I'm sure they would be happy to answer your questions, and help you narrow down your investment strategy.My expertise is with short-term rentals, and the investors I work with that have acquired properties, instead of using the rental arbitrage model, are specifically seeking a higher net cash flow, than traditional rentals provide.

Residential loans generally offer more favorable terms than commercial, that's why don't usually hear about commercial loans on 1-4 units outside of special circumstances.Consider looking into FHA 203k loans, or obtaining hard/private money for the construction then refinancing back into a traditional 30 year resi loan after stabilization.

It being newer could change that but if you plan on holding long term all these items will need to be replaced anyway so best to run your numbers correctly now.  

Even if the money is coming from a hard money lender it's still considered a cash offer from my understanding because it's not contingent on any traditional bank financing.

THE REHAB:2 Bathroom remodelsNew Flooring in Living and HallwayDining room converted into 4th bedroomMisc Updates/RepairsLandscaping & Tree RemovalNot quoted on paper but discussed/agreed to include in total price: replace 4 ceiling fans, replace exterior door, add door to formal dining room, install misc items (i.e. smoke alarms, wall outlets where needed, light fixtures, etc)Original quote included a complete interior repaint (walls/ceilings/cabinets/trim/doors); it was $4.5k.

Let's assume an 800-900 sqft condo.Property management - maybe 8-10%Expenses - Very tough for me to estimate, would love to see some sample models from peopleVacancy - would probably just assume ~ 8% or 1 month of rentCapex - Since HOA would probably cover roof/exterior type deals, capex here would likely be just bigger items like HVAC, water heater, Q1:  Per above, I assume capex is generally lower when HOA fees cover some of those items?

With that being said, I will often encourage clients who expand their portfolio to have a Traditional LLC that they can use as an Operations LLC, or a "shell company."

I have searched up and down the forums but I am only finding topics that discuss reserve amounts for "PITI" and some other smaller maintenance items.

I think you are a little low on your closing costs if you are doing a traditional loan.  

I think it's important to have a business plan. i havent started my investing yet so take my opinion with a grain of salt but the more I think about it the more complicated it seems. really what im trying to do is just buy multi family properties at some kind of discount. add value by renovations or by purchasing in a down market. then fix it up to my companies standards and get them rented out one unit at a time. some of the things ive been thinking about include financing. how will i finance deals after the first 4 or so when the banks stop lending traditionally. also how much do I need in resurves to cover everything from fees to extra holding costs to a major cap expenditure. i want my business to have a plan so i will succeed no matter what. so i think its important to think about those types of concerns regardless of what type of investing you're doing and factor those in to your plan. im excited to save money for the first deal im only at 3k so far.