Hawaii is one of the two markets I operate in (and Anchorage, AK).

Also her husband has 100 acres of Teak and I wanted to see their operation. 

Quote from @Chris Mason: They have simulators for heavy equipment operators: bulldozer, backhoe, etc.

I do NOT think having an operating LLC located in a different state than the ones owned is overkill. 

I have seen several offers from operators around the country who are offering interest rates of sub 6% for a 30-year fixed mortgage with a 20% down payment required, NO POINTS.

The amount they end up paying is already high and leaves little to no margin of profit for someone who is not doing volume operations.

Hey Bigger Pockets community, I'm just starting out in Step 1 (get educated) on what I want to become a successful career in real estate investment.I also currently run an e-commerce business that is currently completely online, but would benefit from having a brick & mortar storefront, and I had an idea that maybe using the investment capital I'm looking to allocate into real estate into a commercial property my business can operate out of until I decide to sell the property in or rent it out to another business.I am obviously very naive when it comes to the complexity of any good real estate deal (especially commercial VS residential), but I'm hoping to spend as much time learning from everyone here who is on their journey as well.My main concern with the idea of buying commercial to operate my business out of it that I might struggle to rent it out afterwards and that there may likely be depreciation in the commercial real estate market over the next 5 years.I understand there is a lot of nuance depending on the local market but I'm guessing commercial is even less of a "safe" bet than finding a solid residential deal to leverage in some way.

Clear communication is the foundation of successful real estate transactions.Remember, the real estate market operates in cycles, and timing is crucial.

These do require more time and organization though.Looking forward, after 5+ years of owning a property, assuming you bought in an appreciating area, you should have enough equity built up via tenants paying down your mortgage for you and appreciation to refinance out of the VA loan (if you haven't already) or even cashout to buy more or to supplement your earnings.Theoretically, if you have enough properties you could refinance at least one a year.

It has a great search option.I like how visually organized the software is.