The theoretical cap on what a business could earn placing the right employees into the right job site is huge.

Your father needs to realize he’s not only taking a capital gains hit, but a depreciation recapture hit, which may be equally as large as cap gains.

Rockaway Beach - New CAP on licenses.

Other than saving a certain amount from each rent payment (for taxes, insurance, PM, general repairs, maintenance, Cap X, and vacancy), does anyone have a rule of thumb for what a good amount of reserves would be for a SFH or any 1-4 unit property? 

I can justify any price (and some high fee syndicators are still doing so), if I just play with assumptions, prepay and buy down my interest rate, and hope that sub-5% cap rates will be returning in the next few years.But if you know your market and market cycle, have an idea where interest rates may be going (this is an educated guess for all of us), and then have your assumptions, you can certainly have the conversations you reference with brokers and see what their take is on pricing and if it is worth writing.Finally, I have said this before and will continue to say it, whether we are talking single family homes or 400 unit apartment complexes, off-market purchases do not make something a deal.  

My answers are in ALL CAPS Bold Italics below for better visibility.  

For analyzing properties, BiggerPockets, DealCheck, and Roofstock are great tools to evaluate cash flow, ROI, and cap rates effectively.

Portfolio = Income derived from financial instruments like dividends (including REITs), interest, royalties, and capital gains.Mostly income w/out loss potential, and favorable tax rates.Cap losses may offset cap gains w up to $3,000 loss.

A 5% yield in a savings account is not as good as a 5-6 cap rental, in my view, once I factor in tax advantages of the rental vs the simple interest taxed at ordinary income rates from HYSA.

You can change the exit cap rate in the basic assumptions tab cell H67 and see the effect on the IRR and EM in the Equity Waterfall (GP) tab cells V51 and V53.