- Any lessons learned or best practices you’d recommend for someone leaning toward this approach?

I want to refi and pull some of that equity out ($200-$250k) so I can keep growing my portfolio but I'm not sure how to approach it as it would obliterate the cash flow I currently have, and in the current market I won't be able to make up for it with additional properties as they would also have minimal cash flow.

Originally posted by @Tori Roy:How do you approach closing costs?

Just approach everyone with your business potential and they’ll typically help you out.

What factors should I prioritize when choosing the best approach for my future success in real estate? 

Can try to reposition to Class B, but neighborhood may impede these efforts.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, but 15-20% should be used to also cover tenant nonpayment, eviction costs & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores of 560-620 (approaching 22% probability of default), many blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 2 years.

Can try to reposition to Class B, but neighborhood may impede these efforts.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, but 15-20% should be used to also cover tenant nonpayment, eviction costs & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores of 560-620 (approaching 22% probability of default), many blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 2 years.

Our logical process:1) Use Neighborhood rankings to narrow down area of city you want to invest in2) Focus on getting to know that Neighborhood(s), so you know the good & bad streets, block-by-block.3) Be patient to acquire properties on good streets that meet your buying criteria.Our rankings are done with a "bell curve" approach.

That said, Detroit is very much a block-by-block market, so understanding the dynamics of specific areas is critical.For professional investors (and even newer ones), Detroit’s future is bright if you approach it with the right strategy, solid due diligence, and an understanding of the challenges.

The sales comparison approach is typically done for residential real estate and will be less appropriate and come in under value because there are no good comps, and even an appraisal using the income approach (unless the appraiser is trained to do more complex commercial appraisals) is probably not going to be the most accurate either because they typically use market cap rates and in this case you don’t have good comparable income properties to find the market cap for the analysis.