This is very doable for me given my current financial situation, however after two friends recently expressed interest in moving in, I was thinking of "house hacking" and renting two of the rooms to them to offset some the mortgage.

Are you looking to create financial freedom on investing, or is this just a supplement to a holistic retirement strategy?

I'm sure you've got a lot on your mind, but if you'd like to connect with a few event planners to talk about what they're looking for (should impact/influence your build-out) let me know and I'll send you a couple names. 

Hi BP forum members,I read Rich Dad Poor Dad years ago and since then have always been interested in becoming financially independent through real estate.

One major financial aspect that many people do not take into consideration is the effects of appreciation and property taxes. 

My main reason for considering commercial is because 1) the duplex and triplex and even 4plex market in my area is very competitive and it drives purchasing prices too high. 2) I guess I’m kind of a pretty ambitious guy and my wife has followed my lead and trusted my guidance and I want to help our growing family (2 kids and 1 on the way) meet our financial goals as fast as I can!

Collect money fee, acquisition fee, ongoing management fee,   watch contractor do upgrade fee, hire contractors fee,  disposition fee,   fee for doing refinance,  fee for doing financial statements,   20% fee if sell property at profit.If investor happy with their 5% preferred return great..  

Also, using wrong pro forma figures (eg. using 7% vacancy instead of 20%) can be financially disastrous!

Remember that you can:Visit the town/city website to see their plans for the futureAttend town/city meetings to influence those plans and get first hand information on what's being planned.I live in the Triangle, NC and wish I had been more involved in the downtown plans of the cities here (Raleigh, Durham, Cary).

You'll also want to look over the financials to see how well the property is being managed and to make sure there is a healthy contingency fund in place.