I imagine it's similar to St Louis but I'd be willing to bet it has more going for it and better appreciation.Happy to share some resources, learnings, and even history/performance of my rentals I've had for 5+ years.

Time to build the foundation below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

Also know that commercial values are determined by the assets existing performance via their financial statements using the NOI and cap rates, which differs a good bit from how residential real estate is valued using comparable sales.

Set aside the full 25k for cash reserves, pay off some debt, perform preventative maintenance (furnaces, etc) or buy next property?

I would like to find a wholesale RTA supplier that offers great value, cost and performance. 

Nothing is holding me back; we already own the house and are performing the conversion.

Does anyone have any stats about how rentals perform in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis?

On the other hand if you feel the stock market is going to under perform the 6.8% (knowing that the average long term gain on the stock market is 7%) then you might consider paying off the notes more. 

Market OverviewThe Los Angeles hospitality market showed strong recovery and growth in Q1 2024, with key performance indicators demonstrating significant improvement from the previous year.

From what I'm gathering on this thread, though, it seems like there wouldn't be anything to "preapprove" if the intent is to use a portfolio loan; you'd have to have a performing asset in place in order to demonstrate an ability for the investor or LLC holding the property to pay back the loan, and you'd run the risk of leaving all your capital tied up in the property if you were ultimately unable to get approved for that portfolio loan when the time came.