I usually use 65% of the retail for the numbers to work.

I have an offer pending on a retail condo in chicago with about a 10-12 cap rate.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Since it seems like you are not quite in the area yet I would suggest following the Pittsburgh forum and setting up keywords for areas you are interested in.

Try to find a realtor who invests in real estate as well or at the very least works with other investors.Hopefully our fellow BP members can chime in and throw in some suggestions that I may have left out.Best of luck to you!

Retail would be around $315k.

Hello, I am actively looking for a Large Multi Family Apartment complex either in Tennessee or North or South Carolina.I am open to other areas as well, but these are my preferred areas, the property I want must have the following capability,Room for instant/forced equityRoom for growth of opportunity, i.e. under rented, neglected or room for further expansionPreferably B or C+ propertiesI am not affraid of work, and in fact are one of those crazy people who likes a challenge, so I hope the BP community keeps me in mind, I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions. 

He suggested 4 suites (shopping center/strip mall) which would cost $35 a sq ft (not sure if this price is good or bad) to build.

The above paragraph is why I’m buying property at FULL RETAIL, outside of my area and why I do not know my local market as much as I should.

Can you kindly suggest any reading material that have helped you understand deal analysis more.