My recommendation is to save money through your W2 until you not only have enough for a down payment but a reserve for repairs as well.

So, he's claiming the home warranty won't cover... fine, what's the repair cost?  

Even if you break even, you will lose money every month it sits vacant, when you need repairs, property management, etc.

Additionally, when underwriting deals, you need to account for the general idea that repairs and maintenance will be a larger percentage of your rent, the lower your rental is.  

Trying to save $$ so I can prepare emergency funds in case of any major repairs etc .

One is the $10,000 repair expenses.

If you can get all the bedbug containing furniture out of the place and it will sit for awhile (or let it sit while the other repairs are done) you may be able to avoid some cost, but if you want to get a paying tenant in sooner rather than later you will want to bite the bullet and get it well done.

Central A/C is damaged beyond repair and needed to be replaced, which can't be done economically or with coopperation of the HOA and other neiighboring owners.

During demo, if they open up a wall and find a leak that requires a change order. the change order should be specific to that repair and have a cost associated with it. 6.

And 3 days a year I spend about 30 minutes pondering a repair, rent increase or turnover choice.