Gradually, that will percentage will decrease as our loan balances are paid off faster because the amortization of our loans will shift almost entirely to principle and only a minor amount of interest. 

Move to credit gradually.

We will gradually increase the rent to fair market rates and if a unit vacates, put in $2500 in upgrades and increase it immediately to $900-$950.We're buying them as 50/50 partners with him bringing the cash to close and me bringing the deal, lender, and managing the renovations and PM.

🌪️🌊🌪️🌊🌪️🌊 This over-assimilation of knowledge may also be creating a mirage of "I know a ton so things should work out", which can then cause result in this gradual, but effective, fatigue when "things don't actually work". 

When I start out making 30% IRR on a new rental in Denver (yes, I assume a modest appreciation of market value, in addition to a little monthly cash flow and tenants paying down my mortgage principle), projecting into the future several years, the growing equity (on an opportunity cost basis) gradually lowers the future IRR.

Start low, maybe $200 and gradually increase as you get better at investing.

I'm gradually turning over my portfolio to my real estate broker since I now spend much of  my time in California.

But if you stick with it, if you hone your craft, if you're willing to become a good handyman, and if you're willing to live where you invest, if you're coming to it from a job where you're not pulling down a lot of income and you're willing to gradually abandon such a job for full-time handyman employment, I believe it's a much less riskier strategy to make some money in real estate and tuck it away for a better retirement than a lot of other ideas I've seen on this website.

Create a contract to show your serious and prove to him while you may be new, you are a person who is knowledgable and that is taking action. 2# Listen to podcast episode #340 in Bigger Pockets, where @WhitneyHutton talks about how she gradually took the plunge into Investing and was careful in terms of risk by first purchasing turnkey properties and only then purchased properties with promises of Higher ROI. 

It took time but I gradually worked through it and have now raised quite a bit of capital over the years and have taken down some pretty big deals.