It's a completely different process for appraising, loan origination, and ownership structure between residential and commercial.Commercial is based off income the property produces, residential is based on comparable nearby properties.

This 50-yr old guy wants to be job-free in 5 yrs, and I feel like there are probably tons of opportunities in nearby markets (Northern IL, Milwaukee WI, NW Indiana, SW Michigan, etc....

The price per unit simply allows you to compare it to other nearby sold properties. 

If there’s one near by the tenant stops in and tells the teller my name and they look it up and deposit the rents into my business account.

I've been looking into various approaches but have the same problem you see -- there isn't much available in the area,   and much of what is available is overpriced.For me, I've ruled out buying anything in Seattle proper until such time as the political climate stabilizes a little bit,    but I would be happy to find something in a nearby municipality.  

Owner lives in Ohio as well, so no one nearby to oversee the place.  

Check out the nearby members and network at https://www.biggerpockets.com/meet, it will help you a lot to find partners that can help you out in investing.

Hi William, Would you be helping and/or nearby where the rental is? 

Recent article from the LA Times showcased nearby San Diego as the number #3 city for largest year over year price increase at 7.8%.

I'm curious if people have had success with any of the nearby communities such as those mentioned above.