Triplex goes for $180k, which translates to $60 per unit.

Which translates to I've used $347k out of the $647k VA loan limit for single family homes.

By using dollars per square foot you can somewhat translate what different size properties mean to your size property.Being that this is your first deal, it throws up even more red flags for me. 

. :-)"people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another"

Also, the high demand for affordable properties facilitates a higher resale price, which translates into more profit.

How to translate that into the number of units, understand what is exactly going on to calculate income?

I don't think this translates well to US members because here we don't really do long term leases the way they do in the UK.How long is the lease term?

His translation is brilliant."

The 5% retention makes no cents...because it doesn't translate into any rational number of dollar$. 

those can translate to building a real estate business..