I have the cash for the 25% down, but would only leave me with about $5-7k left over which isn’t ideal incase of emergencies.

I used other people's money to get financing to furnish the unit, and now I operate the business by providing clean, safe and affordable housing for business and medical travelers.

I'm shopping around to own 2 million in real
estate. It's mostly residential duplex properties with traditional
financing. How much of a cash safety net should I have set aside?
Properties are relatively low mai...

For argument's sake, let's say you need $20K worth of rehab4) Open a bank account for managing this property, and put about $10K in there for emergency repairs5) Split the leftover funds with your dad and lease out the propertyOf course, before you start any of this you need to hammer out a partnership agreement with your dad so that everyone is on the same page and knows exactly how things are going to work.  

I am planning on keeping 2k in my checking account for an emergency fund.

With the amount of cash saved, you should be able to find a property, have an emergency fund for the property, and be able to pay for additional costs.

question #1 - you said on 1 property you wiped out your savings. where does your emergency fund come from HELOC?

There are 20 million of these houses in the USA that have little equity.3) find a home seller with no repairs and is a pretty house.4) find a home seller that has a fixed note, not an ARM.5) most importantly, find a seller that wants to avoid a short sale on their credit, or any other negative move, like a ch 7 bk, or a deed in lieu of foreclosure.then on the tber side, 1) find a tber that wants to own and not rent2) find a tber that has income that is steady, and has low risk of job loss, like medical personnel.3) pre-underwrite the tber by having a licensed mortgage professional look at a 1003 app, look at credit, and give an opinion as to what is needed to get the mortgage, like decrease debt to income ratio, etc.I use a lawyer to draft the lease and the option and the memorandum to cloud the title.I use a 3rd party payee.

Even when you go to a REIA, and some guy stands up and says: "I'm looking for large multi family projects in emerging markets, and am seeking investors to work with on those projects."

you would shoot for $6000 in rent to equal the 2% rule. then go on to figuring 50% rule for the operating expenses (exclude your P&I).Leverage is a beautiful thing; put 20-25% down & get a loan so that way you can buy more properties, have $ for rehab & an emergency fund.evictions - just screen people hard. sometimes bad things happen to good people but you have to be proactive & (again) lucky.