For me, it is just an occasional deal to complement other business, nothing that can be counted on as a revenue stream of its own.  

Your hard work blood, sweet and tears are not respected here as of matter of fact they down right don't give one hoot about you.

A turn key buyer usually wants a pretty passive income stream which is unlikely with the lower class properties.

But, for an investor that has no other stream of income, is interested in a passive stream of income and has enough cash to generate a stream of income that will allow him to meet his goals, cash flow may be a requirement to reach his goals.People tend to assume everyone is like they are, but that's rarely the case.  

Positive cash flow is the life blood that will keep your investment alive through thick and thin.  

Re investors hold more control over their returns, have more possible income streams, and can forecast and see changes coming much easier.

Building up an income stream is a great way to get started in REI...

Cash flow: If I am living on the income stream of the investment, this becomes the most important metric.

If Trevor - or any other investors or business person for that matter - learns their craft and learns how to earn 15% or 20% on their money as a lender or partner and learns how to make a 50% return on his money by fixing and retailing a property and learns how to take a portion of his dollars and turn that into a passive income stream of 8%, 10%, 12% before he levers it - then that investor will know how to make their money back should they lose it all on the wrong gamble.Until then, until someone has no fear of building that nest egg again, I would keep building it and hold off on acquiring assets.So what kind of reserves would an investor need?  

Worst investment was in 1998 starting a restaurant from scratch, a whole lot of blood sweat & tears went into it.