This building was definitely a challenge, but will have super high rewards in equity created and a strong cash flow too.

Here is a tip that will work for you ------- THE Charles Parrish's 50 HOUSE RULE: Make it a project to look 50 houses, with a self pledge NOT TO buy or make an offer on any of them - your objective is to study the market, keep a journal - in it list every property you look at, the square footage, the price per SF, the agents' listing, any comments the agent or the seller makes, keep good notes - After awhile you will discover some very interesting things about this project, 1. you will become aware of values, 2. you will learn how to detect motivation of sellers and agents and 3. this journal will be a valuable asset when you are more aware of the market and you will be able, after you are a little more educated, be able to make intelligent offers that will pay off in equity or cash profits.Remember DO NOT MAKE OFFERS - you are in the research mode - also when you are asking questions you are in control - when the seller or agents are asking questions they are in control and want to qualify you - just say you are looking for properties for your family trust and that you are a CASH BUYER - that should stop them from interrogating you.Hopefully this will help you to Break Out of Analysis of Paralysis ---- Good luck - let's us know how the THE Charles Parrish's 50 HOUSE RULE works for you.

You can start with 20k and end with 6.7 Mil in equity.

One thing I can offer though regarding the Tax/1031 Implications though...If you have more than $500k in equity that you want to get at, it is possible to to structure the sale of the property (you can combine properties together in the sale to meet the $500k minimum) where you would be able to get approximately 95% of the cash out and not have to pay any of the taxes for 30 years (yes this is 100% legal and the IRS approves of it).

California is probably best known for this practice but most states have a required or suggested frequency for reassessment and are discouraged from using the sale price as an indication of the assessment because it causes inequities (those who have purchased recently have the highest assessments).

Well I'm not really willing to put a lien on our home for that, especially with the risk of a failed 1031 exchange costing huge tax $, plus our home doesn't have $325K in equity anyway.   

This deal is now renting for $1,475 per month, so I'm generating cash flow and already have about $20-30k in equity.

Can't find that in equities...and in equities you have -0- control. 

Also, check out the Master in Equity sales for each county (Lexington, Richland, etc) If you're interested in working with an agent, feel free to contact me!

You put down 20k on each of the 3 houses so your loan ends up being 90k and you'll have 60k in equity on each. 60k x 3 = 180kAnd here's the best part.