I won't go into the issues of consumer lending and someone saying their loan is a commercial loan, that goes much deeper in loan classifications than simply trying to define a commercial loan as proceeds funded for any business purpose.

Things that appreciate tend to be expensive and cash flow less on day 1; it is a result of persistently limited supply coupled with high demand, but supply and demand cuts both ways: that which is difficult to buy in the short term tends to be easy to sell or rent in the long term, and the opposite is also true.ROI should be defined as TOTAL Return on TOTAL Investment annualized over the ENTIRE life cycle of the investment.

Start defining goals and what type of investing you really want to get into.  

@JD @Jd Martin I certainly don't want to overpay, and I'm basing that comp on recent sales in the area.  

It is good to have one person designated as manager - or higher % owner - it helps with when docs need signed, etc.You will want to clearly define what each person will do and create titles accordingly.If you have two managers/presidents/etc. the operating agreement may conflict as it is typically created to give the authority to one.

It is ok to Fail, just fail fast and as early as possible, This will build your self confidence your character and it will make you more resilient.4) Define what you want and focus on that.

Could you define a true deal?

I think the first step is learning as much as you you can about your  market and defining the strategy you would like to focus on.

The 36" figure is what defines a "landing" BTW ...

There are opportunities throughout the region, but you need to do your homework and define the class of property that you are looking for.