@Mark S.Your private equity head is somewhat correct although mutual funds are largely beholden to large asset bases that make them closet indexers so they are not nearly as risky vs. an index (i.e. not as much selection risk) where as the type of fund we are talking about will be making a lot fewer selected bets and will probably be taking more risk so manager selection is uber important.

@Mohabub MiahSeems like you need to read @Brandon Turner book called "the book on investing in real estate with No and low money down"Also check out "The ABCs of real estate investing" by Ken McElroy since you are targeting apartments.As far as your immediate need of finding 20% down, which will probably be 35% due to the type of commercial loan you will need, I would guess your best bet would be finding a partner to come in on the deal with you.. and that will probably only be possible if its a really sexy deal.

Yeah, I am well aware a partnership may be the best bet.

You can bet you'll have a small hiccup or two and this will be $2-3K more expensive than you think now.

My best bet is that this would be a good buy and hold property for the are it's in but only if the seller/wholesaler comes down on the price significantly. 

Neighbors will be your best bet...or previous owners if you have any way of contacting them.

My thought is that if the market turns I don't want to be the sucker that bought in at the top.

Be careful and really examine your mold issues...Most of the time this shows up in more than one location and with 8 years to run wild, I would be willing to bet you will find it in multiple locations.  

The reason funds come into a market and pay retail, is there are not enough "deals" and they are betting that retail or slightly over will work out over time because of appreciation.

They're usually looking for a sucker to unload their problems on.