Practive finding Good Deals under 10 units?

[Scott Kimberly]

My personal timeline for REI dictates that I cannot start investing right away.

Since I have plenty of time now, I wanted to practice finding good deals so that when the time comes, I will have a better idea of what kind of investment to pull the trigger on.

I want to buy small or medium multis to start, anything under 10 units. In my area, there a 4 plexes and 6 plexes that aren't too dissimilar in price. I know roughly how you go about evaluating a 1-4 unit, but I don't know if you can apply that criteria to 5+ properties. I've asked around on here and also read that you need to ask around for actual expenses and rent rolls to see if 5+ deals will work.

My biggest concern is that in practicing finding deals I will brand myself as a "tire kicker" who can't close deals. I don't want to be the guy that asks for all this information and doesn't do anything with it. Is that a needless concern? Is there some other way I can practice evaluating 10 units or less without becoming that guy?

[Tim Herman]

@Scott Kimberly I use the 50% rule for expenses. You can use rentometer or zillow and get an idea what rents are. Monthly rents x 12 = Gross income x .95(vacancy factor)= Adjusted gross income x 50% =NOI / cap rate = Purchase price. If listed price less then I will get actual numbers. This will eliminate a lot of properties that are over priced.