The water heater vents into the chimney and the chimney has a concrete decorative top, but am I right in assuming that I should be able to see a cap as well here?

With the help of BP and this great community, I have a new goal:$2,000,000 of real estate with a cap rate of 10% by the time I turn 50.

I'd put a cap on it of enough months to get you out the winter say like 3 months.

He wasn't referring to a "cap rate" for condos in a general area.  

Things need to be adjusted based on your specific building.Remember that a CAP rate (NOI/return = sales price) is a simple snapshot in time, it's not meant to decide the value of an investment over time.

If this is a 8 unit apartment that is a commercial building and the value will be based on income and market cap rate.Based on your $41,329 NOI and 428,000 ARV that indicates a cap rate of just under 9.7%.

The team lead said most brokers don't have a cap and they continually charge this royalty fee. 

The same person that wants a cap on rent is the same person that will want the AC fixed, even if it means installing a new 5 thousand dollar unit, and won't care you didn't or couldn't raise their rent. 

The problem is this, I am having a hard time finding properties in areas that I have resources in that will provide a cap rate of 8% or better.

With a Cap rate of about 6.5% for the market I arrive at a purchase price of no more than 285000.