You need real data (as much as you can extract) and a thorough discounted cash-flow analysis as a minimum before you ink a cheque.My only reference to percentages in this thread was indicating you should analyse your deals with historical debt service interest rates {since we are in an environment where rates are more probable to rise} to see if they still stand on their own.

As a new investor I look forward to extracting some great info on here with everyone's help.

I use quickbooks but I'm not 100% sure how to "extract" this information.

So not required if you find good deals and people.I got my degree in econ and minor in finance at SFSU and met a lot of great people - but I bet you would meet a lot of even more important and meaningful connections at Berkeley, especially with your networking interest, if you chose to do so.

We have owned pptys many years before a development like this, as well as before other meaningful changes in an area (rezoning, shopping center addition, etc). 

It's nice (for me personally) on threads I may be interested in learning more about, but don't necessarily have anything meaningful to contribute.

The team has a solid track record of closing which is very meaningful in this industry.  

Still, investment-positive locations will likely have a price floor (i.e. smaller cities), and thus should not expect to suffer heavy (or any) losses.There are other factors that drive the housing market.Perhaps a more meaningful aspect of how prices are driven in the housing market - aside from interest rate movements - is a stronger economy.

If you can get better performance from your IRA investing in things like real estate and notes than in the stock market, then that can be a good choice.To compare investing in real estate with tax-deferred funds as opposed to non-qualified funds is not really that meaningful because the tax situation is so different.The question is not so much, "should I invest in real estate with IRA or non-IRA funds?"

This will entail, making application with the property address being listed as TBD, but you and the lender can have a meaningful conversation regarding all aspects of your loan request and your credit profile.