Especially if he is familiar with the commercial space, he sounds like he will be a fantastic resource to scale in that asset class sooner rather than later.  

CRE is a very broad but niche asset class and you want to work with the people who do this type of thing frequently not just a few times per year. 3.)

Pick an asset class: Class A, B, C & D properties, research pros & cons, pick one to focus onPick a real estate market that matches your resources & goalsContact local agents & PMC’s to start sending you listings to analyzeAnalyze a few deals weekly, get comfortable with the market and refine what you're looking for

My question is whether I should go ahead and buy a Class C or D property now, knowing it'll be more work, or hold and save more until I can buy more of a Class B property.

IF you are afraid of the market or do not want to take a risk on the most historically best asset class please don't contact me I don't need the negativity.

I've seen companies succeed with this business model, but they had very strict guidelines on the kind of properties they were taking on (only class A and B).

In the CE REALTOR classes I teach on the 203k, I always use the example that the lender is like the quarterback.

There are lots of other great local groups around, each with pros and cons:TRIG: meetups once/month, paid membership, tons of local rooted investorshttps://www.trigofva.com/Hampton Roads Investor Group: Free, hosted by investor agents at 1st Class Real Estatehttps://www.facebook.com/group...Hampton Roads Landlord Associtaionhttps://www.meetup.com/HRLandl...I would continue to learn on here and connect with some other investors at the above meetups/groups to see if you really need a 10k mastermind to get started. 

Seems the property was in a pretty decent neighborhood class to reap that equity. 

This may include, but is not limited to, property type (duplex vs. tri/quadplex vs. commercial), price range (max price), location (zip code), condition (Class A-D) and profitability.Good luck!