Sorry, Steve, I feel like I've let you (and Dave) down ;)  AND we have a HELOC on our personal (free and clear) residence that we are currently using to help fund a flip with another BP investor.We'll always adhere to Dave's principle's in our personal finances (no consumer debt, 3-6 month emergency fund, etc.), but the RE bug has bitten us pretty hard and we would like to 10X our growth ( @Mark Freeman - I loved Grant's podcast and I'm about halfway through reading the 10X Rule right now).Personally, I love Dave's common sense approach, but when it comes to RE investing I finally had to come to grips with the fact that to really grow and expand to the point that we want to, we have to use leverage.  

I would say just put a message on the hotline that says  that non-emergency issues need to be submitted in writing.

And because we want to begin investing in real estate I'd like to have a minimum of 9-12 months worth of personal monthly expenses saved in an emergency fund. 

it's good to keep in mind that different kinds of maintenance such as emergency repairs, code compliance repairs and preventative maintenance repairs might require different approaches.

If they complain about it or it's an emergency like a plumbing problem or roof leak then I'd do something.  

Also worth checking out is Emerging Real Estate Markets by Dave.More expensive and more of a course but truly excellent is The Dealmakers Guide by Ray Alcorn.

And thus I found my way to REI and BP.I'm still wanting to build up my emergency reserves, but I feel like there might be some good opportunities emerging soon in OKC.

Emergency action is needed NOW!!!

With that said, this isn't bad, I would do it.Build up good reserves and have a good emergency fund for yourself.

As longs as the rental properties are cash flowing every month it will cancel out the PITI, don't forget vacancies, maintenance, & emergency fund for each property.