This lender needs a 1.2 ratio to get that, so may need to put more than 20% down to be in the 6s with no points. 

Michael's book seems to be a bit unrealistic with the deals he uses as examples.I have $200k of capital now, $1M of capital in June '25 and another $1M available when I get some units under my belt. 

Or are there other metrics/guidelines/rules of thumb I could use to help gauge that part of our timeline?

I recommend using an experienced agent to help you buy especially off-market deals to help avoid costly mistakes.  

I’m still figuring out where opportunities are / will be and consume a wide variety of materials.

Hey guys, not sure if this is the right place to ask, so apologies if it's not!

Leverage Lines of Credit: Some people tap into personal or business lines of credit to cover the EMD.

This shouldn't be your target as a newbie. 

So after working for/being an agent for 3 years, posting almost 1,000 times, talking to countless investors, making this my full time career, etc. 

Besides the benefit of the forms, I do not think the money is well spent) or MLS membership (approximate $190/quarter, which is useful investment)- Brokerage has no trust fund/escrow account.