Real estate is a long-term wealth vehicle, and overall, I would be cautious about how you define overpriced.

My first place to go would be check how long units similar to the one you're looking for are listed for lease.

Long term friendships with local realtors How did you finance this deal?

Basically they are a type of insurance and insurance companies make HUGE profits because they pay out MUCH LESS than they take in meaning that over the long term you will lose money with them.

VA loans are available for multi-family buildings as long as one occupant inhabits each unit.

You should not be relying on an appraisal to determine what you can sell a flip for.You should be doing your own research and coming to a conclusion of what you believe it will sell for, how long that sale will take, what concessions are likely in that sale, and what type of marketing it will take to achieve that value.

Sorry this post is so long, no need to reply unless it's interesting or a fun thought experiment for you. 

Larger deals tend to trade in retail at higher cap rates.What you need to decide is how long you want your money tied up into a deal (their exit strategy), and how much you want to place, and if you get cash flow right away, partial, or none until certain metrics are hit.As an example you might get 8% preferred return but upside might be more marginal than a small retail turn around deal where exit is in 2 to 3 years and equity multiple is likely much higher for overall return.

Personal readiness includes long-term plans, maturity, and market conditions.

We dont deal with one off JV folks we only look for those that I can establish long term repeatable business with.