Fortunately, I set that money aside and rents kept going up, so I built a nice reserve that paid for all the maintenance.

Also, lets say I have a 6 month reserve saved up in the case of a worst case scenario.

@Dax Squillante  Using your numbers (which I would be very surprised if you can keep your costs that low), your breaking even with zero cap ex reserves (one piece of equipment needing to be replaced like an AC system, furnace, refrigerator, etc, would put you at a loss for quite a while).  

But the city confirmed that it's not legally a triplex, but rather a duplex.My main question is: What does that mean for how the property can be used?

Should strongly consider highering independent inspector to confirm WHAT has been done and HOW WELL it was done.4) Make sure you fully understand applicant screening standards and process. 

Then allow for one time reserves of 12-18 months, and the lender will want more vacancy for covid; which is far from over.

Build a great team.Have cash reserves. 

They wouldn't have a warm fuzzy if they researched them.Better to just have reserves. 

I submitted an online request to Jefferson County to confirm.  

Now if its a smokin deal and the 3 to 5% is easily absorbed then its worth it but you still need cash down  .. or you need a friends and family's to help you out.leveraging up 100%  to buy rentals you want to be careful there if you don't have a bunch of cash reserves since your tying up your heloc for the purchase  leverage to the eyeballs can be great if everything plays out perfect  if not it can be highly stressful.