I will pull equity out of a property to buy more properties if I can double or triple my cash flow.

If all you are going to get is a 5% cap rate then just go buy a triple net property at a 6 to 7 cap where you do nothing but collect a check and then get 2% annual rent bumps yearly.Doing a bunch of work to get a property to a 6 cap doesn't get me out of bed in the morning.

Plus, whatever the closing costs are of a residential loan, double them or even triple them for a commercial loan.

An experienced investor will tell you that if you have an opportunity to almost triple your investment valuation portfolio, you do it.5.

(furnished, MTR), up from $10k when they bought them in 2020 so those more than tripled in 4 yrs.

Which would make you the greatest landlord ever for tripling their security deposit lol. 

A triple decker that was gutted 20 years ago is going to have a lot fewer issues than one that has a lot of original systems still intact.

If you were to heavily insulate the inside wall of an old double/triple wythe brick building the external wythe may no longer dry out thoroughly and be subject to excessive freeze - thaw damage.The best way to insulate old brick buildings is from the outside - which has the added advantage of turning all that brick into a thermal mass in the conditioned space ... alas, most owners of old brick buildings are unwilling or unable (due to historic designations) to insulate over the external brick.There are some informative studies and papers by John Lstiburek and the folks at Building Sciences Corporation about dealing with old brick buildings.

I have more than tripled my portfolio this year, by going after larger deals and learning how to partner with likeminded investors. 

The additional $1,000 in fixed costs and potential for a tripling in my property taxes could drop the ROI to under 5% but there is still a lot of upside in rents to keep this a good deal.