Plan on 1031ing into it purchase price of 11m with about 3.5. down. 8% cap rate @ a 6% rate. 

Then you could buy now before competition becomes crazy again and refinance when rates come down.3.

I continue to pay large amounts to principal from my person funds each month and also all the rental units .. according to my calulator i used this will pay off the first mortgage very quickly, twice as fast as the Heloc because the interest rate is very low.   

Bad publicity and ratings will cost them a lot more than a plumbing repair

May plan is to pay cash and wait until interest rate improves, then refinance and pull out $150k for a down payment on a second property. 

The prime rate now is at 8 ½%.

If your friend just wants to be the bank and park his money for a guaranteed rate of return then I think 10% is fair and pay it like a dividend. 

While evaluating potential investment properties these past few weeks, I have realized that the average rent in Austin is comparatively lower and due to high interest rates and property tax, the outcome is mostly negative cash flow. 

I'm assuming that with your hard money interest rate will make that a pretty high monthly bill.

All 3 units were occupied very quickly and the property is now cashflowing above our projections with vacancy rate (so far) below what we expected!