I have several close friends who specialize in audit representation so especially in the wheelhouse of real estate audits I get a good amount of feedback on trends. 

I was in contract to buy 100 houses from one builder who was selling for 250k in 06 my contract price 125k each.. thankfully I did not close as within 12 months these were trading as I said in the 50 to 60k range..

You can use your commission for down and closing.  

Closing costs + rent ready costs + lease out costs - those you need to be compensated for and new investors are always surprised that they can add up to 5 or 10 or 15K.  

Everytime you get close to depreciation running out (or want more) you 1031, expand your holdings, and your tax write off. 

Now, with the ADU rules, developers are buying anything close with some extra space so there may only be scraps left that wouldn't pass FHA or would price you out.

Has anyone saved money and closed with one of these new upstarts?

@Laurens Van swol a few banks that we've worked with in the past allow you to close in your personal name.

Closing the loop on this for everyone.

The replacement cost (cost to rebuild, not the value of the property) data providers are pegging the quadplex at close to $2M and most 1-4 unit rental property insurance programs tap out at $1-1.5M before you'd end up in a commercial insurance product.