Questions about apartment investing

[Nick B.]

Hello all!

I am looking for information related to several aspects of multifamily investing and I'd like someone with actual experience to answer these questions:

• What are the typical closing and other transaction costs in apartment purchases? Is 3% of the sales price enough to cover them?
• How much money should be left in reserves after the close? E.g., is the sales price is $1M, down payment 20% and closing costs 3%, what amount should I have on hand in addition to $230K?
• What is a minimum number of units that warrants hiring a property management company instead of self-managing?
• If two properties are similarly priced and have similar income but one has more units than another, which one is preferable? E.g. 24 units vs. 16 units.
  
• At what age does an apartment building become functionally obsolete? E.g., should I rule  out properties over 30 years?
• I heard conflicting statements about non-recourse loans: some people say that lead or sole investors always have recourse loans, some say that commercial loans are always non-recourse, and yet some say that it depends on the loan size. Which is the correct statement?

Thank you
Nick