My partners and I are primarily in the self storage space but will consider other income producing commercial.  

As of now at the basic level I am, my goal is to buy and hold properties at the residential level to produce a consistent cashflow.

If the later is your primarily focus I would focus on a property that produces healthy cashflow that aligns with your risk tolerance.Best of luck and keep us posted on your future decision!

I found one, worked like crazy to find the deal he was looking for, found it and he now has it producing at an 8 cap.

I'm a digital photography buff with a background in Photoshop.We agree on how harsh and ugly the light that 5000+K daylight LEDs produce is.

Sure, it makes the best chili, but how much work will you have to do in order to produce even mediocre tacos?

If this is correct the answer is that value is based off of either comparable properties that have sold, or the income that the property produces.

In the 11 months, not a single serious lead has been produced.

One of the best ways to get your feet wet in this business (from my experience) is: identifying top producing brokers in your brokerage or geographic area and asking them to have coffee and/or to work their open houses.

Yes, HML are expensive, but if you use it to find yourself a few killer deals, that should produce enough cash that you can start rolling it down the road on your own deals.