Since both scenarios pay off the principal (year one vs. year 22), how is the principal handled when calculating the total return comparison?

You AND the AI forgot this wasn’t a real comparison.

I would recommend that in the short term you include that comparison against any real estate investment you  consider.  

By way of comparison, the same year I bought the lien on the 36 acres parcel of commercial land being discussed here at 16%, I bought a lien on a double wide mobile home affixed to a permanent foundation in some remote Arizona town, and I got that one at 0%.The bulk of the property is not in a flood zone.

@David Nino hard to make those comparisons on limited info but that sounds about right.

This seems oversaturated and un-strategic, but I know my neighborhood well and believe I could differentiate here as well.Engagement sequence would be a mailer with a handwritten address, cold call, text follow up, cold call, email, then qualify / disqualify leads.Using my rental income, I have a ~$1k / month budget for marketing and tools.

I would check them out as a comparison.  

The NOI from your last 2 years of operating history will be looked at in comparison to the commercial appraisal.

  * 2-4 unit properties are residential and mainly valued based on sales-comparison, not income.

I wrote the contractor a letter reminding him of the sequence of events and his shortcomings.