Light rail and the work from home crowd is definitely spurring things as well.

@Jenifer Levini and @Dana ReganJenifer, I am about as far from a lawyer as on could be so I will walk lightly with my response and take criticism with alacrity.I have read where putting money in one LLC, and then lending to a different LLC is a method of asset protection. 

Stop looking for others' glowing lights to follow.

Appreciate any light you can share on this topic!

Zoning allows for medical/dental, construction, and light retail.

The problem is that he has no experience running a "buy/hold" real estate business, so he doesn't necessarily know what to say when it comes to operations and sales.Can any of you shed some light on these aspects of the business model?

That being the case, you need to become an expert on analizing the costs yourself.Here is what I would suggest: Spend many hours at Home Depot and/or Lowes to familiarize yourself with costs on typical rehab items such as flooring (carpet, tile, travertine, etc), toilets, bathroom vanities, sliding mirror doors, interior doors, baseboards, door casings, light fixtures (celing fans, etc) paint costs + paint supplies (tarps, brishes, rollers, etc), windows, sliding glass doors, kitchen cabinets and countertops, sod, trees, plants, bushes, ground cover, etc.

As someone who works the probate niche, I've been painted an ambulance chaser...So I guess I can deal with the perception of being unprofessional by someone who colors me so by way of hawking his own product.

I can shed a lot of light on this deal.

I admire your ambition and eagerness, but I think it's best to at least appear to others that you know enough about what you do that you can be successful enough to make a living from it.I have never used direct mail of any kind, so I have no idea what color paper to use.Before striking off in different directions, I suggest you first, learn how to estimate market value using comps, understand the the types of transactions used and the related rules, regulations and laws pertaining to the transactions.