There are rarely variation hang ups or things that go wrong.

This is wrong!  

Your question - and correct me if I am wrong - is more, how leveraged should you be.  

Hello BP, I've tried this post on another forum; no response, maybe I was in the wrong forum:  My dad & I are considering entering a joint venture with a good friend of mine who is an GC. 

Vanguard) over the long term in most cases except if you get caught at the wrong time during a market crash as you retire. 

I could be oversimplifying (or even "wrong"!)

Hard to go wrong when you are able to buy that low.

The lakes "full" level is only 681' where the FEMA 100 year flood plain for the Lake Travis area is 722'MSL, and the property is at around 705' +/-. the circumstances would be a little different than coast front as it is not mucky soil as suggested.

And so what of the log of repairs, if a stove hasn't been repaired in 20 years, is it more or less likely to go wrong?

I am not saying this is the case because I am in no position to actually know but starting out with a can of worms in one of the surest ways to start out on the wrong foot in real estate investing and one of the worse things you can let happen to you at any time.