When I approached the same major bank currently handling my mortgage, they told me I'd easily be approved for a 150k loan, cutting my monthly payment in half, and locking me in a 15 year rate of 2.8- 2.9% instead of my current terrible 5.5% rate.

I was going to suggest different options like a half reverse exchange for property #2 where the QI charges you more but holds ownership of half as a TIC but there’s really no purpose right?

Over half of your units are 5 x 10 and 5 x 15. 

Chances are that that same house you can buy for 400 - 450k today will cost well above 1 million in 10 years.If you buy today, you'll pay less than half the price and collect 10 years of rental income in the mean time.

But for the number of homes that did get flooded, there were several that didn't - up to you to decide if the glass is half empty or half full.There are ways to mitigate your financial risk - look for properties outside flood zones (keep in mind that Harvey saw flooding in areas that were considered not to be flood zones but I'd argue that these maps become more accurate the more data we get).

My family friend is looking to offload the house for about half of its current market value to me, however, we can’t seem to figure out the best way to go about doing this.

Because to only list AIR stats is misleading...one of my properties only has AIR supplying half the listings.....I just researched the actual listings on AIR and VRBO and went with that.

If you cosigned for Dad and own half of that property you may need to show he made the payment on his own AND that his income is enough to continue to make the PITI.

PM fees alone would amount to half of that.

What is the easiest path to get started in commercial real estate?