I have 10 of them out of necessity on my own, but don't particularly love or enjoy doing it and thus wouldn't scale this.

And there are a couple of other guys that do it at scale. 

I obviously don’t know your numbers but I’m in a similar situation albeit on a much smaller scale.

Ultimately your goals come into play and your desire to scale would impact you continuing to do the work,  but you would also know that if push came to shove in a given situation you could jump in and make something happen if you've been there and done it.

Advantages = Scalability, economy of scale discounts, lower property management rates, easier to maintain than small multi-family, the more units, the safer and more efficient the project (in our opinion) We usually deal with 100 units + on each project, rarely exceeding 350 units.Disadvantages = deal flow (hard to find properties in the domestic US with solid cap rates) We're shifting focus more heavily to Puerto Rico and the opportunities it currently presents.If you or your friend have any additional questions feel free to reach out.

For instance, I have considered trying to take up an analyst role at a REIT another RE company that ideally looks at large apartment complexes so that I can see how those deals come together on a large scale.

Any time you involve additional partners into an investment there can be many more complications, but on the flip side you have the ability to scale much faster and leverage more resources.

Economies of scale.

I'm using "customer" to define Investors and Custom Design Build Home Buyers.I realize this falls into Marketing and I also think its critical to scaling the business.

So you need 1) hustle and/or systems and/or network to find a "deal," however you define that (based on education and networking within your market), 2) knowledge and the ability to sell yourself as a buyer to the seller to lock it up, and then 3) hustle and/or systems and/or network to find a buyer.In essence, you will have to bust your butt to find a good deal and bring it to an investor who is reliable to close, otherwise you will may be out of your deposit and can tarnish a relationship and potentially your reputation (granted, likely on a limited scale).