Buying a portfolio. What to look out for that might be different?

[James Masotti]

Looking at purchase a portfolio from another investor and was wondering if anyone else done this and how they have structured it. We're under contract to purchase 4 units from the investor now. Through the negotiation of these 4 units we discovered that the seller is actually in the process of unloading his entire portfolio in the next few years and would be interested in selling the whole thing to one investor. What I am trying to figure out now is if it's best to just keep buying smaller chunks from the investor until we buy everything over the next few years, or should we be looking to secure a large source of financing in order to be able to purchase the whole portfolio at once? I know the seller will have his own feelings on what he'd be willing to do, given that a large gain/loss could have tax implications for him and his business, but I want to be prepared to move forward with whatever option is available. 

Other than available capital are there any other pros/cons for going one way or the other that we should be considering?

Thanks in advance for your assistance

Brie Schmidt - If I recall from your podcast you did something similar to this. Any chance you're willing to weigh in?

*EDIT* Realized what I originally wrote wasn't super clear so I've updated it.