What is the benchmark for  cash flow which i believe is all income - expenses including the payment towards your principal in the mortgage ?

They market only plays a role in their investing as far as it provides deals that meet their hurdle rate.The relative camp compares their returns against some benchmark; whether that be the S&P, the posts on BP saying "10 units in 10 months with 55% CoC!!!!!!!!!!"

This was my bench mark that things start to get wobbly.

don't forget, you can have negative returns in real estate.Keep an eye on u.s. treasuries, as the benchmark 10 year is expected to continue to go up,and if the market is still intact after 4%, then you can feel pretty confident that this is sustainable. 

I think our industry needs a set of KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) of its own; asking ourselves "what are the most important items we need to track so we are as successful as we can be" and use these numbers as a benchmark for performance, comparing them with like minded owner/operators.   

I'd run the numbers on you're own home and see what kind of a return you would get and then make that the benchmark when looking at other opportunities on the market.

My goal is 10 wholesale deals, 40 flips, and then nothing but commercial after hitting that benchmark.

I would increase 15-20% above the apples to apples benchmark.

Many investors model IRR to properly benchmark investment opportunities and to calculate their true profit.You can buy the house for cash and then put a loan on it afterwards.

The big ones are alot harder that might include little benchmarks.