I totally understand that he's likely not going through every e-mail individually. 

My favorite areas are close to NC State University, Holly Springs, Knightdale, E Raleigh inside the beltline, parts of Durham, and Apex, but all for different reasons.  

I come from a professional commercial construction background with a Bachelors in Interior & Environmental Design and I currently work from home in E-Commerce/Marketing (hoping to blend all these backgrounds into a real estate investing :) I had a specific opportunity recently come up that I'm needing some advice on...

E-myth and Accounting books are next...Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.   

Assume that each printer is a unit of property under §1.263(a)-3(e).

@John Thedford  If I get a blast e mail in my state and public records indicate the person sending it does not own it and they are acting like brokers..

@Nick Mauldin : You simply ask for a T12 (YTD for 2017), Current rent roll, and a PNL for 2016 and 2015 (schedule E will suffice.)If this is a deal you sourced yourself by calling the primary, then they may be a little cagey about providing ALL of the above, but will often provide some of it.

They ultimately own the underlying property indirectly through the investment vehicleA, B, C, D, E form Partnership ABCDE.

If that is the case, creating a company to have the rental properties under the company will have the same effect - your loss from the rental properties will be reported on K-1 (instead of Schedule E), which will be subject to same limitations. 

There are lots of quantitative metrics ("mainstream" as you say) to observe here (P/E for the S&P - see chart below, margin levels, ratio of total market cap to GDP, etc), & anyone with access to google can see the same numbers.