High rates, high fees, and they will screw up the transaction.

The primary difference is in how you finance the purchase. 1 to 4 units can be financed with conventional mortgage financing, however when you're purchasing five units or greater in a single transaction, typically you will need to use commercial multi family lending companies.  

This to me really legitimizes  the transaction.

Hello Fellow Bigger Pockets Friends:I just went through a transaction in Newport Beach and had escrow fees in excess of $15,000.

Hello Fellow Bigger Pockets Friends:I just went through a transaction in Newport Beach and had escrow fees in excess of $15,000.

While it is great to be proactive, for a standard clean deal on a 1-4 unit property, you will probably be doing a standard homeowner type residential transaction, so you may not need much advice up front that (nothing you could not find online, like here on BP, or in books mentioned here and elsewhere).What would you ask them anyway? 

When looking at Portfolio Lenders you have two types of transactions: (1) Purchase; or, (2) Refinance.(1) When looking at a PURCHASE, you should expect to get up to 75% of the Purchase Price of the property...assuming the DCR (debt coverage ratio) can be supported by the cash flow of the property.  

I  had the amazing opportunity to transact with numerous portfolio lenders, let me be the first to say; this is the most reclusive space in lending I have yet to encounter.My most recent encounter was complex!

I totally agree that one transaction doesn't dictate whether a person knows how to succeed in investing, because so much could turn a winning investment into a loser and be out of the control of the investor.

You might want to consider hiring an experienced MF mentor to assist in properly evaluating the transaction.