See a cap rate is NOT a return but the measure of what a market is paying for NOI.

As such it also has much more stringent underwriting standards than a hard money loan.

This next time around I want to be more measured in my approach and do investing in a systematic and reasoned approach.

I'm finding the things I'm learning are helpful beyond measure as well.

The difference perhaps is that I am a businessman and I realize the costs of being compliant and legal are worth the cost when measured against the potential risks as opposed to pretending the risk does not exist.

I would write that out as a specific and measurable goal. 

Also remember, there is no reward from not obtaining risk, so don't be scared to take MEASURABLE risk.

Perhaps looking at the % of houses that are sold and then re-sold within the same year, at a higher price, to measure the level of flip activity? 

This FHA 90 day flip rule certainly causes confusion.I am getting conflicting info of which date to go by as far as the acquisition date to use for this time measurement.  

When you sell a rental property at some point in the future (at least a year out), this is not viewed as a flip transaction, but rather just a reallocation of the IRA from holding passive real estate to holding cash.Your example of buy, fix, rent for 3 months, then sell would likely be viewed as a flip, especially if you repeated this pattern with multiple properties.The IRS does not define a "flip" in clear terms, but has a full set of measures they would apply to real estate transactions to determine whether something is a passive investment or a trade or business activity similar to competing commercial enterprises.