Although, I have had exposure to RE in four distinct ways: from a regulatory perspective during my time with the FDIC, from an underwriting perspective as part of a CRE underwriting team at BofA, from a public markets persepctive in my current role as an investment analyst, and as a homeowner for the past seven years.  

I think I understand the distinction you are making.

Legally, there is a big distinction.  

In addition, in some markets it is customary for buyers to work directly with the sellers broker and bringing a buyers broker puts you at a distinct disadvantage.  

It sure does have a distinctive smell that lingers pretty far.  

Turn key is a euphemism .... or a coined termthe question is :::do you buy a rental property that has been recently rehabbed and there is a brand new tenant or are you going to put a tenant in it.Or are you going to buy a home that needs work Major or minor and do it yourself.. its funny how this distinction gets lost..

I think that there needs to be a distinction between the word "mentor" and the idea of coaching/parenting/handholding.

Each party to an investment has different interests with the same intentions to realize some sort of gain whether they are risk averse or risk tolerant.Investors might prefer equity financing for some distinct advantages.

We are talking about two very distinct scenarios but it was good you gave the example of how you would consider cap rate and interest expense toward deeply discounted buildings. 

I got the distinct impression that any reasonably good distressed deal would be snapped up by a pro likely before I would even get a chance to see it.But my ignorance in this topic is literally boundless at the moment, so I'm very happy to hear that maybe there's more room for the little guy than I thought!