In the event of a slight downturn it would be safe to build additional vacancy losses or rent reductions into your pro-forma so that your property still cash flows well. 2.

@Robert WalstonI haven't put down anything as yet...listings are going quickly here, before I can even get an offer on the table, the listing has multiple offers.Not joking, today, July 6th, received an email alert from an agent for multi-fams, texted realtor at 8am to put an offer on a duplex, she calls me 8:15am & says their deadline for offers was 5pm yesterday.

Thank you for your quick reply.  

There are always deals to be had, but as the market gets hotter & hotter, you have to be extremely picky, and usually its the sophisticated investors who can still execute on the decent deals because they have the contacts, the track record, understand the risks, can pay cash & can close quickly.

That being said, the U of M does drive the demand and Normal station will always be a very safe place to invest in.  

My reasoning was that it would be a safe place to store it until i could get it into real estate. 

It would be akin to thinking you should make triple payments on a rental property and losing money every month just because you want to pay it off quickly.

I'm trying to finish the SoW as quickly as possible, but I would like a GC lined up before I close mid-July.Can anyone recommend me to investor-friendly (i.e. not retail) contractors?  

Continuing on your path and buying a multi-family unit every six months to a year would get you scaled up pretty quickly in five years.

Mr.Neith yes to both.fix and flips for quick cash and buy and hold to build up a solid portfolio.