Now, this is all dependent on your strategy (and money to implement it) but if I target off market properties in a state of disrepair then my down payment could be 0%...or I could target on market properties and use traditional financing and need 20% down.  

We learned about wholesaling initially and that sparked our curiosity about the many ways to make money in RE.

I bought my first investment property in Cleveland just about a year ago... more specifically, in Clark-Fulton, which recently had and is still having money pouring in.

Now that I'm sitting on a lump sum of money I'm ready to invest again.

With seller financing, the person selling the house lends you the money, and you pay them back directly.

My kitchen cabinets aren't super old, so painting them would save money (I believe), but Im wondering if it even matters.

It does require paying money and risking it may not make a significant difference to the assigned appraiser anyway.

Contrary to popular belief, yes good operators do market and spend money on marketing because there is so many bad offerings out there they still need to be noticed. 

As well, I would not recommend buying a cashflow negative property, or even breakeven for that matter, as there are lots of places to buy at positive cashflow - unless you have endless cash reserves and money is not a concern for you.

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program has a ton of money still available and they are granting people up to the full amount of unpaid rent AND up to three months of future rent.