The Vanderbilts who were as wealthy as the Rockefellers at the time did not use this strategy and eventually their net worth evaporated due to many things.Unless you have a license to sell life insurance and know how to structure the policy for the client's goals, you shouldn't be knocking products that can and do benefit MANY people -  especially those who have maxed out other tax deferred accounts.By the way fees are paid over the life of the policy, not all up front.

Find a non-bank lender or broker who offers bank statements loans - this is literally the situation that these products are meant to tackle.

congrats your doing all the  vertical as well or going to sell lots to production guys. 

I would say take a deeper dive into the nearby product and see if there is a premium in rents for a duplex unit versus an apartment.

Regarding bookkeeping/accounting, 100% of the feedback I've gotten from REIs who have tried to have a VA help with their bookkeeping is they had no clue what they were doing and they caused more issues than before they were involved.There are great groups out there such as the "Bookkeepers for Real Estate Investors" Facebook group where VAs can get the education they need to be productive within REI bookkeeping.

The average price per land for urban infill going 6-12 stories high on a higher density product is about 5 million an acre up to about 25 million an acre. downtown market premiums I've seen at the highest are 1200 a sq ft. in columbus you can get land about 1.5 million per acre downtown at best price, sells for about 600 a sq ft max, very little competition compared to miami. tampa I didn't really look at too much because miami has 22 zip codes that you can build at least 6 or 8 stories on and just a much better landscape than other markets. tampa is a little bit bigger than columbus but in my opinion more of a suburban market. miami is landlocked and very limited so everything is in redevelopment. both are amazing opportunities but the barrier to entry is much higher in Miami with the smallest plots of land infill going for at least 1.5 million I would say in areas like Wynwood Norte, Wynwood, etc. we looked all over but prefer east of 95 due to the condominium opportunities. multifamily is very strong in both markets but the condo premiums make it almost silly not to do one from the start and the use of deposits versus a single asset lease up and disposition is a longer sales cycle than the condo buildings being sold out prior to completion.

@Edward Heavrin: Both options, but at a high enough equity you kind find long term mortgage products that will allow cross collateralization, so you can use those high equity or free and clear assets in lieu of down payment. 

The sheer number of 1 star reviews on various platforms speak for themselves. 

Often you can find other with pocket listings for deal on the forums as well.I am on the lending side of things and would be happy to hop on a call with you anytime to discuss financial strategies and help answer any questions you may have about nearly any loan product available to help you on your journey, even if they are not products my capital partners offer. 

That way hopefully worse case we hit a single or double and still do well.The syndicators using debt with the timing of the cycles and the stars to pull anywhere close to initial projections on the raise play a game of musical chairs where risk to loss is high.Keep integrity.