Purchase price: $185,000 Cash invested: $100,000 Three unit rental property (two apartments, one retail) on Main Street Ellicott City.

I am in commercial retail so not SFR.With SFR are you talking building yourself new as a developer or are you talking about buying new construction to hold as a rental?

The second property is a 54 unit with some vacant retail space on the ground floor The 54 units are made up of studios and one bedrooms.

When you borrow against one property and someone else is paying back the loan, your using OPM to purchase the next money, so you can afford to pay closer to retail price and still have a great CoC return!

So the free cash flow are all used to accelerate payment of his mortgages.He tells me his contracting business is in construction, mainly retail stores interiors and store fronts, and when business is slow, he sends his crew to work on his rentals, even extensive rehabs.

As has already been mentioned, any retail purchase of SFR in San Diego will be cash flow negative yet many investors purchase them.  

Look at the neighborhood and find out how many homeowners are still there, and how many retail sales have happened over the last 6 or 12 months.

maybe as it relates to how to run proforma's on income property.. and they are retail owner occ agents.. 

Originally posted by @Viet Hoang:How do I get "Investor Pricing" vs "Retail Pricing" from GCs?

It comes down to simple numbers, wholesalers can look at dozens of properties per month, thus picking up experience at a break neck pace.