When is an investor "ready" to jump into commercial multifamily?

[James R. Copeland]

So I've got a couple SFR's so far and would like to eventually, someday, own an apartment building or two. In my area a SFR of good quality can be found around $300k, while an apartment building is going to run well over 2 Million... From what reading and asking around I've done I've learned that commercial loans for first timers typically want something like 30% down payment just to come to the table, and then there's the higher interest rates, and balloon payment to add to the worries. So it sounds like the financing portion is completely different, what else makes it a challenge to get into? What's it take to make the leap successfully?