The ones I model myself after were not aggressively over-leveraged and believed in the product location. 

The "wholesaling is the best place to start" line is complete bull@#% with no consideration for current market conditions.

I'm working on getting over it, but need any and all suggestions for alleviating that fear when so much cash is on the line.  

Then their is the gigantic apartment for sale on Carroll but that is a no fly zone for me.Combine this with my post from the other thread on too much A-Class inventory coming on line right now and I think it would be wise to really sit down and figure out real exposure to risk before buying any multifamily around downtown or Notre Dame right now.Edit: The above was super negative!

- Ability to take money out of IRA with no charges/ or loan against 401k (something along these lines)Finally please share your experience if you have purchased a rental before a live-in property?

@Diana NA As other have mentioned, you have to decide how involved you want to be - and there is a range along the active/passive line. 

Along the same lines, I'm going to get a much different number for the same size house, as a flip, in an A neighborhood.Again, the BP tool is great, but I seriously learned more from going through the process and really learning the math than from everything I read, and I read A LOT!! 

You can use a line of credit to perform a majority of the rehab and then pay it off once you refinance.

Hi Jon,I still think Frank Gallinelli's book on understanding cash flow is an important text if you're aiming to learn the basics of evaluating a commercial real estate product.

Fannie/Freddie loans just carry better rates and terms (in general) so we try to go for those first.Here's some bullet points on how income is calculated with Fannie/Freddie and S-Corps:W2 income – that’s easy, you probably understood that your W2 income can be added TO incomeK-1 income (box 1 & 2) – also pretty self-explanatory, but just in case, it’s added alsoAmortization/Casualty Loss – Added BACKDepreciation 1120s (line 14 & 15) – Added BackHowever….Mortgage Notes, bonds payable in less than 1 year (Schedule L, line 17)- this is SUBTRACTED from your incomeMeals & Entertainment (Schedule M1, Line 3b) – SUBTRACTED from your incomeNon re-occurring Other Income (1120s line 5) – SUBTRACTED from your incomeAnd then they would average 2 years of these data points to come up with your "qualifying" income.