If it's in an area that will experience a lot of growth you could take the risk but as a first time investor, youre losing a small amount of money each month and that doesn't take into depreciation, major repairs or vacancies which can really crush you if you aren't prepared for it. 

Some folks are driven by fees in selection which there are some differences not just in monthly fees but in additional fees for tasks. 

Yes ultimately cash is king, but significantly limits your growth potential.  

Do you expect to have rapid rent growth or appreciation?

For those of you that are contractors, you are aware this is a daunting task.

(Some would say that is stupid and dumb, but I am still at my growth stage and not fearful of market drops like we are having now) Now with my added hard asset(s), I'm having a hard time trying to figure out, what would be an ideal ratio, or allocation split, between Equities (Stocks), Bonds and Physical Hard Real Estate, with Non-Traded Growth / Income REIT's?

If I focus 80% of my time on the leads that look like they might be promising or hot, I'll get more deals, faster, and grow the business more effectively.

This is not from my experience but the experience of 100’s of other properties over the years.We do not assume anything more than 10% rental growth in any one year.

When you're buying in good areas where you expect both appreciation and rent growth over the long term, you won't usually find the level of cash on cash return that a lot of the gurus are suggesting.

CoStar is reporting rent growth decelerating in March 2020, thefirst time rent growth has shown signs of slowing in the Spring since the Great Recession.