HML, syndications, crowdfunding, and a robo advisor for exposure to equities and bonds like Betterment or WealthFront.  

And I am not low-balling my contractors they are all licensed bonded and insured.

@Steven Bond I've been meaning to reach out to you regarding the FIG properties.  

I plan to use the no financing contingency strategy for properties I absolutely love that I could pay in cash by liquidating stock and bond holdings.

Putting your money in stocks or bonds Assuming you don't want to spend time looking up and analyzing different companies and various investment grade or junk bonds, and you put the money into an index fund or a mutual fund.

Bond used for start up.

So far, so good.Our goals are to use real estate to diversify our retirement portfolio since about 90% of our investments are in stocks and bonds through employer sponsored programs.  

Does anyone invest their monthly cap-ex reserves into dividend stocks, bonds, etc?

I'd say look at demographics (change in population, employment, etc.) in those areas and, importantly, drive through them yourself, to see what you like and what's convenient for you.Also as I've recommended recently in other threads, be sure to check out the finances of any city/town you're planning to buy in, including current and historical changes in municipal bond ratings (Moody's, Fitch, etc.).

You can get 4.5% with a mix of bonds and conservative dividend stocks.