I feel like places like Vallejo/Stockton are long term bets... for the short term one might see some appreciation but they're a lot more sensitive to market corrections so one has to be prepared for that.Speaking of corrections, someone at the Sacramento RE conference last year mentioned that the biggest signal if a neighborhood will retain its value during a downturn are those with healthy mature trees.

We remember to greet tenants by their names and we smile often. :-)

I can only say that if I were a seller, I would have 3 stipulations: 1, a healthy dose of earnest money, and 2, an escape clause that allowed me to continue shopping my own house around on my own while the wholesaler was doing the same thing, and 3, the obligation of the wholesaler to buy the house if they couldn't locate another buyer in a suitable amount of time. 

This 8% + 4% structure is unclear based on what you've written, but sounds more like a 12% preferred structure if the project achieves those goals.Given that it is a value-add project, the returns could be well in excess of 12% and the sponsors could merely be offering investors a healthy 12% return, while taking the rest of the uplift as their promote.Hard to say for sure based on what you've written, but should not be difficult to find out from the sponsor.

I am having some healthy dialog with my business partners over whether now is the time to buy, or if we should wait out the market.Appreciate the help from more experienced REI's.Thanks,Andrew

Thanks in advance. ask this question to people from Bangladesh and they will smile lol, btw USA is still the lowest income to housing GDP in the world (it still the most affordable place in the world to purchase a house), meaning folks selling a hamburger in US is still have the higher purchasing power to buy a home (maybe in Ohio), but not so much for someone selling biryani in bangladesh. so try to visit bangladesh (or Mali) next time for this moral question lol

That will offset a healthy mortgage and may even cash flow. 

No appraisal, strictly an approximation based on comps.Between my wife’s student loans, a car note, and hospital bills (healthy child-birth) there is approximately $60k in debts.AZ house note: $209kCurrent rate: 2.35% VA IRRRLCash flow: $200/ monthApproximate AZ Value- $325k (guestimation)$60k debt: $1,700/month expenses Should we consider a conventional cash-out to clear some of the debts?

I've got enough cash for a healthy 20% - 25% down payment and I'm struggling to find some affordable properties, too.

Furthermore, lending standards have tightened (at least from my experience) so lenders are going to want you to have plenty in reserves and healthy debt to income numbers.