There are two factors that influence rate that he might be describing: buying points (paying a fee up front to get a lower rate) or LTV (the more "skin in the game" you have, the lower the rate).

What's the most you could pay while still having a healthy margin for executing your strategy?

I find that with these options, appraisal risk is still really high b/c even though the bank doesn't mind you having no skin in the game, the local appraiser doesn't want to give the CA investor who bought the property for pennies on the dollar months before a high ARV.

Our future goal is to build multi-family properties that are small communities (rather than just housing) - with a focus on building happy, healthy, supportive communities that span all ages (we have lots of ideas for these, but I'm sure those will change and adjust as we learn more and get more experience :) ).We've teamed up with a local realtor, who seems great - we're very happy working with him so far - and we've been also looking on realtor.com and Zillow.I've run 52 properties through the Bigger Pockets rental calculator so far, and have narrowed down to view, so far:3 Duplexes 4 Single-Family (two 3-beds and two 4-beds)Thoughts, Advice, Input, and Opinions:I would REALLY appreciate any input or advice on the above, and on the following (we haven't looked at the properties yet - we start viewing tomorrow - so these figures are approximate, and subject, of course, to any extra things we discover when we view them :) )...2-PLEX - 2-Bed per unitWe can't live in this one because it already has tenants under lease, therefore the mortgage would be about 4% (I'm guessing?)

More like 4.5% to 5.5%...If I could find a 6-cap that wasn't a near tear-down in the hood I'd be thrilled.Having said that, cap rate is not an indicator of performance so it is still possible to make a very healthy return even with low cap rates.

I think most commercial lenders will want you to have skin in the game but it may be possible as there's so many different products.  

I would recommend using your capital partner as a co-signer on the loan, or have you co-sign on the loan they take out to show that you have "skin in the game"Another thing to consider is the timeline of the deal.

With a healthy reserve for the rental and we set aside a 6 month rainy day fund, we have spent a significant portion of our saved capital to do all this.  

Hey @Chris Wan In my opinion the Sarasota rental market is very healthy.

These are those rare sponsors who have full real estate cycle experience with no investor money lost (or very little), conservative use of leverage, put significant skin in the game, etc..I know both a multifamily operator like this, and a triple net lease (NNN) fund also.