Is 20% down a good plan or should I do less and use the extra money for updates to the house?

The units come pre-loaded with freon so dont let anyone charge you extra for that.

Oftentimes the seller will base the price on current rents and depending how far below market they are you can get a unit that is renting for $1100 that should be renting for $2000 to live in by paying the extra $15,000-$20,000 in relocation assistance, which if you treat it like an increase in purchase price is a pretty good deal. 

If so, is the extra $400 worth your time?

It's a 3 unit 129k with a new roof, new windows, new flooring, My mortgage will be roughly 1200/month, if I can rent the other two units for 1200/month, then I live for free and have an extra +/-$1200/month to put away every month as well as the income from my full time job, even at 100% vacancy, my mortgage is lower than buying a single family home and also lower than renting. 

Isnt IRA contribution always from EARNED income.

Your tenants are forcing you to work for money you have already earned.

Early on, I checked up fairly often to make sure these things were being done, but as time went on, he had earned my confidence and it ended up being a great fit for both of us.   

First off, the bank will need to see that you've been consistently earning as an agent for 2 years.

An investor who's buying properties with cash (and therefore doesn't have a mortgage payment) or is self-managing (and doesn't have the cost of a property manager) can and should expect more cash flow per door than someone like myself, who is leveraging my properties and hiring management to handle the day-to-day operation and tenant interaction.I would also guess that most investors have a CoC Return criteria, because it's smart business to understand what kind of return you're getting on the hard-earned money you're investing.