When handled poorly (thoughtlessly), it's gambling.

I agree - seems like a gamble definitely not worth taking my friend

I have a property mgr for 10% and have to date not had a vacancy.However, being in commercial real estate, I know there is always that gamble.

Just dive in and immerse yourself in the wealth of info, resources and talents BP offers.

I say if you can't afford to do it yourself right now then immerse all of your second jobs into the field you are interested in...Become a bird dog for another investor and get paid a small finders fee if he/she ends up closing on the deal.

Making educated bets is like gambling at a poker table.

Too close to the "evil" gambling and the threat of increased crime (whether true or not, the perception will detract) and any casino workers that want to buy to be close to work will be lower income people, so at best they will maintain market level (but based on my friend's income level, I think they will be a step down).What are BP's thoughts on the situation?

He has been through about 4 cycles he said and he said each time for commercial multifamily was the leading drive on the rebound.If you look at cycles they all have similarities and some differences.Recognizing these patterns leads to the best portfolio and the best returns versus risk.What Rich said holds true in that you avoid the herd mentality.People that do not invest prudently do good with some properties and then the others bring them down to a negative to flat position for years before you can recover.Some of these syndicated pools of investors look at the big project as a smaller risk.That is fine if the gamble is made based on the funds entered is only a small percentage of their total worth.Example if the have 2 million liquid and want to spend 100k for an interest in a property that could throw off very high returns than they are still safe versus their overall portfolio.I can tell you that buyers think "I am buying so low there is NO WAY I can lose on this!".

If you want to gamble try sports betting.

One year tenancy should be enough to argue something in front of the judge.And then you could always gamble a bit: On one side, if it fails, you loose $100 or so filing fee and your time (if you go yourself to court).