You should never pay retail!

Are there any good resources online to be able to get an idea of average monthly/yearly expenses like utilities, etc. for a given zip or city?

Typical retail lots sold on the market for $55-60k a piece, an off market lot from a wholesaler usually come in around $45k a piece.

@Justin Boyd just saw the location on this, I'm somewhat familiar with that market, we do quite a few retail deals in CLE and the surrounding areas, I'd be happy to give you an opinion on the site if its helpful.  

When I did an online search for commercial multifamily lenders, most have a minimum lending requirement of $1M and I don't need that much. 

We use DealCheck to underwrite deals and QuickBooks Online for everything else post-closing on the purchase.Quickbooks Setup:- Classes allow for separate P&Ls for each property. - Products & Services enable us to track each 'phase' of the rehab. - Projects give us visibility on my projects- My CPA can easily access the reports for tax preparation.

Asheville has just recently started to feel like it's beginning to come back online, but a long ways to go for a full recovery.

As far as my personal investments, I have mainly focused on multifamily - but I do have commercial retail and office investments.

The only way to answer that in general (whether house hacking in today's market is still a good option) or for a particular property, is to learn how to run the numbers and analyze a specific property to see whether it will be able to stand on its own as an investment when you move out someday.There are a lot of resources here on BP for doing that but I'd just say, make sure the assumptions you're putting into your spreadsheet or deal analyzer are realistic.Make sure the rents (especially for vacant units or pro-forma #s) are realistic by doing your own rent comps; make sure the mortgage rate is realistic by doing some research online and/or talking to some mortgage folks; make sure insurance #s are realistic by getting a couple of quotes for the # of units and zip code / area you're looking in; etc.I hope that helps, and good luck 😊

A good tip is to reach out to contractors, visit local supply stores, and check out online resources for cost ranges.