The developer who built the 8 townhomes  purchased this particular lot as well, but in the crash was not able to develop the entire area and stopped at 8, having to give the remaining parcel back to the bank. 

But here's my question: If one spouse is NOT drawing external income, they are not able to take advantage of 401(k) sweet tax deferred options.

The good news is that they do such a great job servicing their clients, the bad news is they are not able to service as many clients as could probably benefit from them in order to keep their standards up

Leveraging the money I could easily make returns higher than the delta but there are also giant downfalls to the asset based loans like high fees, prepayment penalties, my first born child, etc, etc.

Beyond the huge issue of taking a giant leap of faith with a TK partner, the more I learn about it the less I like it.

If you could combine the lots into one giant lot and build more than five units I would do that.

You also risk waking a sleeping giant.

A tenant is very close to signing a lease and has confirmed a date to come in and we told them that all people that will living in apartment must be present and to bring all documentations and have them ready. they promise okay...then last second a day before signing they say that one can't make it because they work late and the time they agree to come was late in the afternoon...So is it required that all people on the lease be present to sign the lease and if one is not able to make it is there any red flags?

Here is an article about valuing multifamily real estate.What you asked for: (pros and cons of holding onto the small multifamily)Pros:Easier to manage yourself with less unitsAbility to diversify where these properties are and minimize risk (one property suffers, others can help carry the expense)Invest in each property as needed, able to spread out expenses over a long period of timeCons:You are not able to scale as quickly as 1 large MF unitHarder to self manage - expense for management feeYou will have to replace 5 small roofs instead of 1 large roof (this goes for A/Cs, Furnaces, Water Heaters, etcThere are a lot of pros and cons to both.

The same lending laws apply whether the loan is from your Aunt Mildred or a giant mega HML at a fancy address.