The money spent doesn't make sense vs the increased rent.

Some investors use conventional loans, while others use private lenders, hard money loans, or partnerships.

Bigger deals can be a good angle to attack AND that being said there is a greater deal of risk involved. 

What areas do you find the best ROI on your flips? This topic is up for HEAVY debate. After designing over 100 flips in twelve states, here are the key areas in which we've found the best ROI on flips:1. The Kitchen: ...

You have a bigger loan, but not a bigger tax basis.

If you have a chunk of money to get going I'd personally buy the biggest thing you can if you don't I think house hacking into a 4 plex is great. 

Some properties actually lose money each month but gain value through appreciation.

I don't think rent to retirement can vet a deal any better than anyone else or you, they just have a bit of a system. but the new builds in Lehigh acres, Cape Coral, north port, etc are all garbage. septic systems, poor economics, low rent to purchase price ratios, you are banking on appreciation and buying at market. building direct is going to give you a competitive advantage on a 3 unit let's say worth 600,000 you are going to be 120k ahead than if you bought it through them. that's my analysis. if you are super lazy and too busy to make money and have millions to throw around then I'd recommend not thinking much about investing. but you can also invest in funds and be way omre passive than buying a new build from far away. but if you want to add real value then get involved and make it happen. getting wealthy isn't easy. you work hard for your money and there are build to rent developers like us that try to answer and add value to start buiding relationshipsl

Even if they could save 5-10% on that $800 bid, which is $40-$80, if it took more than 1-2 hours they'd be losing money doing it because their time is worth at least $40/hour.In our opinion, it really depends on the level of urgency and the size of the bid.The more urgency, like no hot water, the less time the PMC has to get multiple bids.The bigger the bid, the more likely it is an owner should expect multiple bids.An owner has to be realistic, understand and accept these limitations. 

In SubTo, the bigger risk is on the seller.