Whatever the outstanding equity is, you (ideally) use the rents from the Duplex/Triplex to pay the mortgage.

Ideally this will pay for most or all of the mortgage on that property so I can eliminate most of my housing expense compared to what I am paying now. 

Ideally... you would want a high income earner who isn't home much in say Lake Oswego, or West Linn, etc. vs. a 'buyer' in a slum zone in N.

Assurance and ease of closing increases confidence to pursue deals..10 days or less, ideal...

Again, I'm not familiar with the area so if there's a college town nearby or an up and coming town would be ideal.  

But so far so good, I'd say things have unfolded at about 80-90% of ideal expectations, which would be in line with my realistic expectations. 

Of course, ideally I'd like get any unit I can rented as fast as possible. 

When I was getting my mortgage, the scores my lender pulled matched the scores I got from myFICO.

I have had roommates my entire adult life, and while not the ideal circumstance, is just fine with me.

This would be a minimum if you want your spreadsheet to match your experience.We tracked our clients for some years on over a hundred rentals and generally they achieved 78% of what their spreadsheets said they should.