I am working with a small brokerage firm Columbus, OH and am learning a lot, but ideally I am looking to start building a portfolio in multi-family.

But could be worth spending a couple hundred dollars for an attorney to send a firmly worded letter to seller, and likely call their bluff.  

Have a qualified prospective tenant who was to sign a lease a week from now, and had paid a deposit to hold the unit weeks before that.A deposit held for a unit with verbal and written transaction record enough to hold firm to that commitment?

They can do 'emergency'  'it hurts bad' dental work, so they should be getting partial income.And small firms have lots of possibilities to survive in the recent financial packages that were signed into law.

If they cannot, I'm not threatening them with the eviction, however I am being firm that rent is still do and I'm willing to work with them in the short term.

normally to set this up U have to have a Very big appraisal of the project  you need to hire Bond council and you retain an investment banking firm that will buy the bonds then resell to their clients..

Stories like this give us all reason to dislike local governments even more.Check our www.SayRhino.com  We use this at my firm.

Are established firms more resistant to downturns and other economic threats? 

We are being firm, fair and consistent across the board in our responses to ALL tenants. 

Just fyi, Wells Fargo is the one firm that I found offering this HELOC here in Metro Atlanta.