Markets like Dallas, Atlanta and Phoenix have more job and population growth but they are weak for cash flow.

It’s not a game for the weak.

You have to be honest with yourself when planning for that and know your strengths and weaknesses. 

Target size strip malls, or office space, or NNN, or Pads, or etc...Or are you talking about things like a stand alone building with a hair salon, or similar in it along side of a major road.[2] What can you afford to do Down-payment-wise, in an MMA maybe only a 7/11 strip mall, in a medium sized area maybe a larger bite of the chocolate bar than the 7/11 mall.[3] Do you want partners on deals, (same on all, different on some), must you have partners on deals (loan qualifications, personal weak spots, etc...)[4] How will you swing the bat at financing; do you qualify for the financing your deals will need, will you need others to help you qualify, do you now these people vs risking someone who will make your life miserable and you will hate working with (an unfortunate situation). [5] Do you want to work government handout money for fix up real estate, is there any that looks profitable right now.[6] How well do you know commercial real estate "Stuff"; such as can you identify a 400 amp service panel from an 800 amp service panel, can you identify an electrical transformer that you own from those owned by the utility, what is a plenum, does your building have them, what are those big red pipes with wheel handles on them, hidden behind the bushes (who do they belong to), how long does asphalt last in a commercial lot, and etc...Good Luck!

She's probing for weaknesses she can leverage so don't provide any.You may also want to consider not taking any application until the apartment's been seen by ALL tenants who will live there.  

While obviously much more forgiving than any other material when frozen the weak point then becomes the fixtures themselves, or, in the case of anything with hot water baseboard, the baseboards are always still copper and will split quickly once they freeze. 

Everything in my life has changed over the last five years due to the diagnosis and treatment of a chronic illness.

In addition, I have a willing guarantor who owns $400mm+ in MF property.The issue I'm worried about is that some mortgage brokers I've spoken with, and Michael Reinhard's book on commercial mortgages, say that I need to have 3 years of proven income (I changed jobs a bunch after college) as well as good credit (don't have) and previous ownership experience (don't have) in order to get a loan.On the other hand, when I read things from some other sources like the BP forums, or from investors like Dave Lindahl, they state that with a strong guarantor a bank will still give me a loan to buy a property even if I have weak credit, insufficient net worth or lack of experience.I'm looking at some deals and I would be looking to borrow 65-70% LTV, non-recourse and 10yr fixed and all of the deals I'm looking at have a 1.6+ DSCR. 

There are plenty of ways to operate ethically and legally with poor credit, if you are weak in one area, you need to be stronger in another area to make up for that weakness.

Applied psychology, networking, salesmanship are important things that do not come naturally to most engineers.The above are generalizations and your milage may vary, but being able to spot your strengths and weaknesses is a good step in the right direction.