He hires out the foundation, framing, siding, roofing, electrical and painting.He and his buddy do all/most of the carpentry and plumbing inside.

a buddy's house was built in 1830 and it's beautiful. 

Or at least buddy up with someone who can take you through the necessary learning curves. 

Hi Saundra and Buddy- I am very active on this site, and while just about everything having to do with investment real estate is covered, DSTs are not too often discussed, likely as they're for accredited investors only. 

Originally posted by Buddy Holmes:~3% is what I get as well on my own calculator.  

Hi BP fam,I'm helping a buddy install laminate hardwood flooring and we have a pretty good start, but have an abnormally-shaped layout in the house (working from one end of a trailer to another) and our tiles aren't quite fitting the way we'd like.

Originally posted by Buddy Holmes:Sorry to give wrong impression.  

On the risk mitigation front, no matter the market or how strong it looks, I always assume that it will crash the day after I close escrow, and if that would put me into serious financial trouble, I'm not closing ... and as your example on PHX and your buddy's 4-plexes illustrates, cash flow is not some magic wand that single handedly makes you immune from any and all risks (as some newbies seem to think), though it is an important part of the equation, and the quality of that cash flow is every bit as important as the quantity.

I was curious as I have some buddies who are committed to to investing with me in the area.

One of my banker buddies said other banks take all income and count 70% of the total, with 30% used for personal expenses; which seems equally dumb.