I lived in this apartment complex 12 yrs ago. 5 rental units in top of bldg and 4 stores on bottom of bldg.

Determine on your own, with your family or with someone you trust which elements of the home each of you will check out during the tour and stick with the plan no matter how terrific the home looks to the naked eye.All homes are complex no matter how big or small, old or new.

I have been looking for an IRR excel calculator but they all seem too complex and I'm not confident with them. 

Seems like an inefficient use of capital given that you'll realize few efficiencies of scale and you per-unit price is sure to be higher than if this was a single complex.

PeriodHowever there are currently lots of indicators of a recession looming which is different then a crash.It is and has been a sellers market for real estate....meaning deals are harder to find.Multis it becomes a little more complex, rents typically don't decrease in recession, depending on your asset class.So they can be a nice safe haven, they will also protect you against inflation.However I would first consider looking at your overall finances.   

Our goal is to get into the apartment complex arena and cashflow from rental income. 

As I have grown my portfolio, it has gotten more complex and there are just too many changes in tax code to go it alone.

Also close to new 5th Street shopping complex.

This sounds like it does have added complexity to it, since you are changing the use of the property.

The only experience I have had with real estate was the purchase and sale of my condominium, and the purchase of my current single family residence, which in retrospect, I could have made better decisions with what I know now.