They were lucky to get out breaking even or a small loss.

Its a slam dunk when you break it down into pieces like that. 

I want to invest with a 10-yr horizon in mind, understanding holding an asset that appreciates, while someone else pays down your mortgage, but that is if you at least break even!

Take a break from larger multifamily acquisitions for now, as they may not align with your current capacity or risk tolerance.Whatever you choose, know that setbacks are part of the journey, and you’ve already gained skills and insights to make smarter, more deliberate moves moving forward.

However, when you factor in the HELOC, we have a negative / break-even cash flow (HELOC payments are about 25% of the revenue from both).

CoC just about breaks even if I assume rents are on the higher end of the spectrum.My questions are: 1.

Certainly nothing ground-breaking in terms of ideas here, however I'll be very hands on (and on site) during the process to make sure that every step of the way is executed to a high standard and very carefully.Once I've hopefully developed a successful track record and gained experience, my next goal would be to move on to commercial assets (think multi-family, industrial etc) so that I can leverage my existing investor network and real estate knowledge to raise 3rd party equity and take on bigger projects.

@Annie Schrock thanks for the comment, definitely having the right contractor, always meeting your deadlines and doing full due diligence can make or break a deal! 

If you want a city, Philly can be done if you know where the blocks break.

After  3.5 years we have permits for a 17 unit redevelopment project.We had hopes that we would break ground within a year of buying the property....that fell by the wayside for 2 reasons:1) we had worked with the city to increase density through an affordable housing scheme that did not go as planned.