-Based on some of the rough numbers I've crunched, I think It'll be smart to stick in the <200k range, ideally around 150k. 

Immediately I started crunching numbers in my head and had visions of sitting back, collecting rent money on my 20 properties - finally having the time and money I needed to live life in whatever way I saw fit.  

I guess this is all math and once we have hard proposals/rates we can crunch the numbers, but my mind is having a hard time seeing a clear choice. 

I get that you can be as creative as you want, but how to even start crunching the numbers for a partnership?

Iv'e had agents tell me they thought something was a good deal but when I crunched the numbers it didn't make sense.

The attractive thing is we can get financing for 80% of the appraised value, which is still more than the construction costs, thus eliminating the requirement for any down-payment.I'm a commercial lender myself, so I've crunched and crunched the numbers. 

I was still going over P&L statements and crunching numbers.

I have thought that the quality of tenants would also improve as a result of the mortgage crunch.

Peter - I enjoy that you asked this question, and I have spent far too much time reading, reading researching and crunching my own numbers on this myself.

since commercial real estate takes FOOORRRREEEEEEVVVVVVVVVEEEERRRRRR, perhaps you can also dabble in residential real estate when you are just starting out.i recently got a call from a broker about a property that i had under contract one and a half years ago. i wrote an offer got it accepted a year and a half ago. then i backed out after doing some serious number crunching. i had the right to cancel my contract so i did.