But right out of the gate as a newbie, I feel like it's the easiest route for my given circumstances.I would rather have 4 GREAT deals than mediocre deals that I don't have enough equity to pull a decent portfolio loan from.

Hello, I was wondering...I found a property I am interested in, and I ran some numbers and it looks like a good deal on paper. I am sure I can negotiate the price to match property similar to this one, but upon furthe...

I put in 25k for repairs because I feel like any purchase needs something...If you have tips on what major things to look for in determining high cost repairs right out of the gate I would love to read about them. 

So right out of the gate you don't have to do anything.

In response to some posts:Yes it is negative cash flow right out the gate if I only rent out one half.

The balloon comes up in 2 years, but I'm planning to refinance the building into a straight 10 or 15 year commercial loan next year.You can probably avoid the balloon setup if you can go with a 10 or 15 year loan out of the gate, but that's going to make the payments a lot higher and most people don't have the cash flow to support that (including me when we bought this building).

I'm experimenting with putting on engaging educational DVDs during calls instead (like Your Baby Can Read, Baby Einstein, and Baby Signing Time) and letting him crawl around the living room floor, but that's still a work in progress until we get a large gate or something because he crawls out of the area at times and I have to grab him while talking.  

I wouldn't have barked at a good guy like Russell out of the gate necessarily, but I appreciate where you're coming from.I don't have anything to sell you.

I do see properties cash flow positive out-the-gate on 15 year fixed financing even here in the Bay Area, but it's fairly rare.Incidentally, if you plan on future acquisitions, anything that threatens your ability to qualify for future mortgages is a threat to your income and success.

Oakland has been on fire for the last several years, so it's hard to find something that makes sense from a cashflow perspective right out of the gate.