Most lenders/investors are wanting a margin of safety in investment loans given where the economy and RE cycle are at.

As for an offer, start with your ARV and subtract out your renovation costs, financing costs, a reserve amount for contingencies, any profit margin if you plan on flipping it, closing costs for both the buy and sell sides, and soft costs for the permitting, etc.

Thank you, increase the number of units and lower your average housing cost per unit. 180k for 1500 in rent doesn't' work. all in triplex we can build with land for 400k with our margin and land and entitlement that rents for 5400 a month in columbus.

If someone says investing with Margin calls on stocks is comparable, you shouldn’t be in this forum with us little guys.  

There’s not a lot of margin for error in your assumptions.

We build houses for $75-$85 per square foot which is our cost to build and we sell that for $150-$200 per square foot, sometimes our margins are much slimmer depending on the finishes of course.

In OPs case I’d be worried that the margins are too tight especially with the hard money, the steep first-timer learning curve, the state of the industry/labor shortages, permitting and inspection backups, supply chain issues as resulting difficulty in budgeting costs and timeline accurately, etc. and 15% to the consultant chewing into the profits.

I suppose if one wanted to, they could invest with some margin in order to take on a bit of leverage.So, what are y'all's thoughts on the risk one is taking with leverage and cash flow?

Well then you'd kick yourself down the road for acting impulsively and emotionally dumping and running before compounding appreciation had it's time to do it's work of growing ever more comfortable margins. 

If you are paying your marginal tax rate then you can contribute to the SEP because it is treated as ordinary income.