Aside from that you may be stuck having to save up the money for a future purchase to keep your risks as low as possible starting out.

I am learning from the best and continue to be blessed with great people in this place.To continue this path of success by building knowledge and wealth I would like to help all the families out there by providing tools that can help everyone save money in energy used on residential and commercial properties.My motto is "Integrity before Growth" in which families are able to save money and help others do it as well.If you would like to know more about it I'll be glad to give you more information.

I have zero money up front and will be able to save $1000 a month beginning Sept.  

Should I save more money 20k-40k and stretch out my timeline?

So my suggestion for new guys and gals out there looking to invest, the first step is to SAVE MONEY!

Be sure to check out the ultimate beginners guide if you haven't already which can be helpful in deciding on your strategy: https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

I like to be able to save the calculations and go back with better numbers to see how that affects the deal. 

I wrote an article on financing methods for buy and hold a while back that you might find helpful: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/10/29/the-ultimate-list-of-ways-to-finance-buy-and-hold-property/

Nobody even checked the title of the homes to see who the owner was, but if they ever did, I would tell them that I was part of the investment using my credit to help out and do the management, but ultimately my boss gave the money and had the control.  

I had my primary residence and an ok job but not a lot of savings.