Went through the emergency buffer on every property this week, the three to six months of expenses I've written about keeping since the very first post in this series back in 2023. Built it up further during last year's cutting cycle, when cash flow was easy and it felt almost unnecessary to keep adding to it.
Glad I didn't spend that surplus on something else once the hikes started again this year. Three hikes since February would have hurt a lot more without it.
Simple habit, unglamorous, and it's the one piece of this whole four year stretch that's mattered in every single phase of the cycle, rising rates, falling rates, rising again. Doesn't matter which direction things move if the buffer's there when you need it.