In many cases 'investors' have little command of the numbers and take a very simplistic view 'mortgage is 2100 rents are 2400 my cash flow is 300'!

It certainly can be a good resource, but to quote our instructor "this course is like drinking water from a fire hose".For the pricetag, it was well worth it for me and I intend on taking the other CCIM courses over the next 18 months, but as a principal, you need to weigh the usefulness between paying for this course, and learning the information here on BP.  95% of the time, you can get away with using a more simplistic model to analyze investment deals for your own use. 

The problem here is that the 2% rule is simplistic.

To answer your questions specifically about which numbers I look for, it's dependent on the type of deal but most simplistically I look at cash on cash return.

I'm saying, for example, in the most simplistic way, any property in Las Vegas.

Though, I think your view of the world is very simplistic and naïve.

Well, I won't be taking Rich Dad's advice on this or anything else.His opinions on 401K's are well documented as simplistic and they don't apply to this situation.

These simplistic measures also assume that you don't have to dump additional dollars into the property to fix a capital expenditure.

Seems so simplistic,  and it is...

This is a very simplistic analysis, but it is meant to demonstrate that systemic risk comes in different forms and that buy-and-hold investors can vary their exit timing a lot easier than fix-and-flippers because the product produces current income.I think this debate is a lot like whether or not to buy stocks for growth and capital gains or for income.