First one went about 30-45 days over what was expected.

And while that is a worthwhile goal, it ignores that fact that, even without cashflow, investing in a vacation rental will likely beat the pants off of your IRA contribution, which oh, by the way, isn't "cash flowing" either.Let's do a comparison:With your IRA, assume you are 45 years old, have $100,000 in it, and are committed to contributing $12,000 per year for the next 15 years.

For my own sake I wouldn't be comfortable walking away without at least 20-30k in personal liquidity in a 4-5% credit union acct.

And you are right that the process is usually 45-90 days.

I've been living in WA State for a year and have been learning my local market (I live about 45 min northwest of Tacoma on the Kitsap peninsula) while saving to buy my first property.The high home prices and high interest rates are making it challenging to find good deals.

Rent grow being 3, 4, 5% with expense growth being the the same or even less than the rent growth.

We charge pet rent of $45/pet/month.

And have been sitting on the home for a good 4-5 years!

I would not factor in social security since, if you are in the 35% tax bracket, you are likely already over the social security base.sounds about accurate of 45% to 50%

This allows for 45% of the effective rent to be spent on all your expenses (taxes, insurance, management, common area utilities, etc. - but not your mortgage payment), and gives you the net operating income (NOI).