You do not get the opportunity to see the inside of the home or get it inspected or anything of that nature.

You still want to buy the normal hazard coverages (fire, wind, hail, earthquake, or whatever natural disasters tend to occur in your area.)Another difference is that you probably don't need any loss-of-use coverage (i.e. hotel expenses if your house is damaged.)Most residential providers will have a policy that is tailored more towards rental homes in the way that I describe above.

Hence, friends and family is the first natural choice.

Since I am a numbers guy and have found that deal analysis seems to come pretty naturally, based on your comments, it sounds like I should find someone who is already syndicating and help them with their lead inflow.

For me the market is too high to hope for natural appreciation.

Trying to get fixed Fannie loans reserved for natural persons.  

You also back into it by taking the known ROI you require and multiply that by the spend, this will tell you how much you need in a rent bump to justify it.Me personally, I use between 20-25% ROI as my threshold.Another thought to this is if you can do this for 20 units and do secure the $100 rent bump then you just made the property worth 400k more assuming a 6 CAP or 300k if using an 8 CAP. this will help when time to sell or do a cash-out refi or supplemental loan.    

This shows that you understand how you can be of value, that you have gratitude, and allows for gratitude to be naturally returned.It can be as simple as making an introduction, providing an insight, and I've even heard stories of people giving rides to/from the airport just to get the bonus one-on-one time!

Looking for cash flowing buy and hold real estate that will supplement retirement income.

Also, to supplement what @Brent Crosby said, it's not timing the market, it's time in the market that matters.