You may also put 5% down on a conventional loan with no self-sufficiency requirement. 

Meaning you cannot just evict a tenant because their lease has expired.You will have to build sufficient evidence admissible in court and to the satisfaction of a judge to prove good cause to get a warrant of eviction.Many housing providers kept high risk tenants on month to month leases so that if the tenant stopped paying rent, you could simply give them a notice to vacate and recover possession of the rental unit that way.The reason for this methodology was because the HSTPA of 2019 passed in NYS made it extremely onerous and costly for housing providers to evict due to non payment.That method under good cause will be eliminated.So you can still keep tenants month to month but you will need to document the lease violation due to nonpayment rigorously.How many times and how late is “good” enough?

But at the same token, buying to high or the wrong properties will cost you substantially.

You need sufficient rental income to cover your expenses, or you bleed money. 

The right idea is going to be the bread and butter.1) Ideal location2) Quality properties over quantity of properties3) 1.25x DSCR4) Intention to hold no less than 8, but ideally 12+ years.5) Sufficient cap reserves6) Mechanisms to enhance cash flow(via alt investing or house strategies).7) Liability protection through no PG loans(if possible), LLC formation, property management and being a diligent landlord.8) Invest deeper, before wider.Now if you're talking where to invest, different information.

To remedy that, the carpets should be ripped up and sealant applied to the subfloor, at minimum.There are also tiles in the smaller upstairs bathroom that are lifting up and creating a safety hazard; putting a rug on top is not a sufficient solution.The house is in a condition that materially interferes with the health of household members.

That's sufficient.

If your household income is more than 5 times monthly rent, a guarantor may be an option in lieu of a sufficient credit score.

(The bulk of the problem is Nimby-ism and local regulations that prohibit sufficient building of new homes to meet demand.)

With your experience, having sufficient capital to cushion any mistakes is important.