You need money for marketing, title, escrow, taxes, insurance, paying the missed mortgage payments if the seller is behind, usually some money to the seller, for making the monthly payments, monthly utilities, usually some repairs or updates and an emergency fund in case things go wrong.

In the ideal case, there be a "new California" emerging somewhere in the next 10 years.

We do have a high-end local property management company that is available 24/7 in case of emergency.

Someone who can occasional come to check the property and be an emergency contact in case of neighbours complains (East Scottsdale)?

New Rules:The code requires vacation rental owners to adhere to a list of regulations, including:Non-residential uses of a short-term rental are prohibited.An emergency contact must respond to requests from public safety officials within one hour.The owner must have liability insurance.Owners must conduct background checks within 24 hrs of a stay to insure the person booking the rental is not a registered sex offender.Owners must notify inform adjacent single-family homeowners or units on the same building floor in a multi-family setting that they are operating a short-term rental within 30 days after receiving a license.Rentals must include smoke detectors and an exit map.Short-term owners/operators must not leave trash/garbage in public view unless properly in collection containers, and must ensure that trash/recycling collection containers are properly placed and removed per collection schedules.The rental must be cleaned after each stay.Pest control must be conducted at least bi-monthly.Four-foot barriers must be up around pools and hot tubs with gate.

Planning to build an emergency fund and pay off as much debt as possible this year.I have a guaranteed income of 188k, but I hope to be able to do closer to 250k based on production.

I would much rather take a $100-200 cut to increase tenant interest, than lose 45 days, deal with 3 large dogs in the property, with someone who is emerging from bankruptcy. 

Insufficient cash flow from other sources to cover emergencies and buy a sufficient number of properties. 

That would have turned me $100k in profit just by signing my name twice, giving the foreclosing lender cash, and selling the as-is home to the end user.It turns out, as I went to close, there was an emergency appeal on the foreclosure suit, claiming essentially what is improper foreclosure and mortgage fraud.

This is your emergency money, its what bails you out when you have virtually nothing else left.