But that extra income that builds is your buffer of safety. 

Are you risk adverse and prefer a safety net, or are you willing to accept some risk to increase your return? 

Unless you're operating on razor thin margins, for the type of property you're talking about that % is inconsequential.

For my next HH I plan to do it all in 1.5 years, etc.More generally, if you consider how financial safety is a pyramid, I'd say your lower floors of the pyramid should already be very solid going into the HH.

If they really want to put a dent in that, how about passing a law that states that building and safety departments must respond to plan submittals with any corrections within 60 days or less and upon receipt of corrections, must respond and approve within another 30 days or less.

Or being able to give all cash or line of credit offers getting the same deal a cash buyers are gets and have the cash in the bank to show I could do all cash and then only use 5% of my own money so that my over all returns is much higher but I still have the safety of the contingency funds.

-U&O are waaaay more lax than the suburbs-Low TaxesPhilly Cons-COMPETITION (like any metropolitian area)-Sloth bureaucracy (permit pulling, plan approval)-4.28% Transfer taxSuburbs Pros-School systems that sell homes, not blocks-Safety of your equipment/materials not getting stolen-less competition (unless you are by a university or the #1 school district)-Permits/inspections are handled on micro level, usually takes a fraction of the time as it does in Philly.

Considering cash out refi also, but then, the cash flow and safety goes down after increasing the LTV.  

Once I insure some level of safety, then I look to other KPI’s such as IRR and overall annualized returns to see if the risk I am taking on will have a measurable reward.

I've also been told that many owners won't accept an FHA loan because there are additional steps that need to occur (health and safety inspections, repairs on owner's expense, etc...).As experienced buyers and investors, what do you think is the best option for me?