Hi,My ultimate goal is to own a ~20/30 unit or more apartment building for cash flow. 

Main goal is to grow total # of units for cash flow to be able to live off passive income within 10-15 years. 

MAKE SURE YOU DECIDE ON AN END DATE FOR THIS GOAL.

My goal is to have my first investment property by Summer 2018 in Greenville, NC.

As a newbie, I too have thought about starting a property management company, however, for me the goal would be to build relationships with potential sellers, as well as have the systems in place to more efficiently run my personal property(ies).

Some operators can do it faster, especially if they are pre-leasing and the market is hot/competitive.Maybe on the spreadsheet, or could see if lender has one, depending on what you're actually looking for.Yes, there are def specific lenders out there, as ALF itself is a niche and you add construction to it and most run away.May be able to pull some information from lender regarding the market specific questions on operations/mngmt and construction companies, and the typical percentage of total revenues charged.

redfin gets MLS data way faster than zillow/truila.... just an fyi

Start with some SMART goals, then from there you can fill in the blanks with what you need.

The goal is to live in our first home for 3-5 years, ride the increase in home values in Philadelphia, and then move to the suburbs. 

Our goal is to get that 3.5% downpayment.