Look at zillow, craigslist, apartments.com, get a local NARPM vacancy report.

I'd expect ~$4k, but this is very localized.Bump Vacancy to 8%.

That would give you flexibility and is more reasonable to manage once you've had enough of house-hacking yourself.There are many more expenses than just the mortgage: Insurance, taxes (very high in TX), Vacancy, Repairs, CapEx, Lawn care, Management.

Save up for repairs/mnx/vacancy/improvement ect?

@Shiloh Lundahl  Since they are smaller cities I was thinking areas closer to blue collar jobs will have more of a demand, I feel if I can find a spot where there is decent and steady income being made I  can have a better chance of lowering vacancy.

So, my vacancy is minimal.

Is it a deal breaker for you if you are unable to pick it up below market value if you know it’s a stable market that will cash flow after accounting for vacancies, cap ex, repairs and PM fees ? 

Expected rent, utilities, property tax, insurance, mortgage payment, what you are using as an estimated vacancy rate.

In the expenses you are missing vacancy, cap ex, maintenance, pm, misc.   

Some would feel better about putting the cash down, others might feel better about using the HELOC and keeping the 20k liquid in order to make mortgage payments with it should you have extended vacancies or maintenance.personally, I would open the HELOC to the full possible 30k available balance and then I would use the 20k cash to make the downpayment.