My question here is, where is a good place for me to start REI, and does anyone have suggestions on legit REI education or schooling or would it be safe for me to just gather up all the knowledge I can reading through forums and the e-book provided?

But to be on the safe side I would plug in 10k in repairs.

There are a few ways the bank can mess up the foreclosure, so that the 1% safe harbor provision doesn't apply.

If you are only able to rent out the property for part of the year you need to research what the average vacancy is for that time and then bump it up 10% to be safe.... it is completely doable, but is just going to require much more research and narrowing down the values in the spreadsheet.

Is this a legal requirement in the post Dodd-Frank/ safe act world?

I took the conservative/safe approach and did so with 20% down and conventional financing.  

I agree with Josh, it is a safe way to make sure rents are coming in

Some states have laws restricting RUBS from being income generating for landlords, so to be on the safe side we simply bill at 90% per property.

I wanted to avoid that, but better safe than forced-placed-insurance.

Close to very good schools , very safe quiet area higher income area has a pool it is a 1950s ranch.