We've come across a few package deals lately and are having some trouble making sense of them and organizing the results when evaluating.

I've been doing a lot of reading and listening to podcasts and I'm anxious to start but I want to make sure I'm not missing something as I start to evaluate the properties and think about syndication.I have a partner I took on for the last couple of properties I have acquired and both of us are anxious to get started.That said, I have found a couple of apartment complexes that seem to be a pretty good deal.

I'm closing in on a deal and could use a third party to help evaluate with me.

Second, Investing in properties or notes takes time and expertise in evaluating, negotiating, vetting, servicing, managing the investments, while putting money in a bank account takes almost no time or expertise.  

Do you find the use of a BPO firm like BrokerPriceOpinion.com to be something note buyers typically utilize when evaluating notes?

I review the marketplace here a lot to evaluate deals and see what the market is doing.  

Your $20-30k per year cannot be evaluated as good or bad without understanding how much equity you have in the property.

This bracket is evaluated on the basis of a general expertise of the quality of the building: Ages, condition, infrastructure, maintenance, etc..

I started investing in 2002 While living in Europe (talk about "out-of-state" :-) )The way I go about it - first myself:What's my budgetWill I be using cash, cash + a mortgage, etc.I'd list down my top/main concernsSecond, I like to look at metros that are:1.5MM and up population Growing metros in jobs and population Multiple industries present in the metro (diversification) Rent-purchase price +/- 1%/per month (a $150k house should rent between $1350 to $1500/ mo)Once I find that metro start looking at houses BUT first make sure I know how to fully evaluate and financially analyze property. 

I do need to re-evaluate my strategy again and sustain my campaign.I even  do a lot of driving 4 dollars (when I have time, also just as a hobby/or way to get to know neighbors/ neighborhoods...you get a lot of info when you walk streets before buying), as well as direct marketing but nothing has transpired to much.