:PYeah it's pretty safe to say that residential appraising is fundamentally broken.

Some people will look at a building and see a dump with a low return on investment while others will see a huge opportunity to renovate and make great money.For this triplex here are some questions to ask yourself:Do I believe in the local economy (this is important as I believe any real estate investment is fundamentally a bet on the local economy)Do I think rents are going to steadily rise over next 5 to 10 years?

Happy to offer my opinion but you know your life best so keep seeking opportunities that you're over-looking.Unfortunately, hard money or private money looks like your best bet thus far.

Best bet would be to walk a couple contractors through and see what the estimates are.

Remote professional relationships are very common.That said, your best bet locally is @Steven Hamilton II.

I don't think it is ever a bad idea to have a "nest egg" in a safe in cold hard cash.

In the way I'm discussing commercial loans for a SFR it is synonymous, but I think some people refer to a master loan made for a portfolio of properties as Portfolio Lending, so there's bound to be multiple meanings floating around.I find loans to an LLC to be easier than to a person, but I bet that is because I have some incredible vendors that I have built trust with AND I am not a W-2 employee. 

I'd budget 12-15% combined with repairs.I bet you can get management for closer to 8% on a 16-unit property.Insurance looks very low for a property you expect to be worth $500k.What about water/sewer?

These are usually safe investments as that's entry level home and has traditionally been not impacted by markets.

That’s more safe and professional is it not.