I can understand the desire to have a great cash flow and high ROI with no $$ in the deal, but I don't see the point in running your numbers based on that goal, and making a decision based on those number.....especially if your real plan is to put 20-25% down anyway......If you can find a place that cash flows well with zero down.....and isn't a BRRR deal, then that's pretty awesome6.5% ROI isn't "bad" .....its just not great.....there are other OOS places that have the potential to do better....but some of them come with a higher risk (lower class neighborhoods etc).

This area is also about your RISK tolerance.

I also get tired of having to explain that by "making a relationship" with you, I expose myself to litigation if I ever have to sue a borrower for a deficiency from a foreclosure and oh, let's not even mention the part about how I have to explain to my state and federal regulators, or my shareholders that I failed in my duties to maximize recovery and minimize risk of loss by selling directly to some invidivual investor instead of exposing the property to the open market....you keep digging.

I know Brandon Turner has mentioned the idea of a credit partner on deals to lock up bank financing, but this is more for fix and flips and hard money.What are some risks I should be considering, and how can I protect myself from it?

Others will say as little as possible, I like doing 20 percent as it helps limit your risk some.

I'm a conservative investor, so these high cap rate cities are not something that I've been looking at due to the increased risk if we have a serious downturn. 2) Wait or buy now?

Such a match reduces interest rate risk.

Which puts me as a higher risk and disqualified me to get a Heloc.

Everyone is starved for deals right now, but no one is going to risk losing money.

I've always been frugal and the only risk I take, besides my job, is investing in stocks, which I don't find risky.