Again even if you have great credit as you start to add more credit cards, mortgages, auto loans to your credit you can also be viewed as "High risk" due to Excessive trade lines in credit or higher DTI - debt to income ratios. 

having a HELOC to have an emergency line is smart since if you really need it in a crunch you could draw funds within 1-2 days or less in most cases.

U can do 100% if you want but you should have plenty of cash on hand as well. 

Hello @Bethany S Labrinos congrats on getting started on your real estate journey. 

You will meet a lot of great people here that will help you on your journey. 

I also have a $175,000 line of credit ready if something catastrophic happens.

And what is your price point and are you looking for turn-key properties or something along the lines of a "fixer upper"?

Don't pile on risk at 21 y/o. 

Most investors make the same rookie mistake: They focus on problems instead of people.

It is a matter of how bottom-line-oriented they are and knowing how to file insurance claims.