I assembled land for big commercial developers so I know this game pretty good.

I've been looking at some property in Mountain towns that have mixed residential and commercial uses.

. :)Strategies: On the multi-family, I got a local commercial lender to agree to finance 80% of the purchase price if the seller will carry back 20% of the note (as my down payment).

Any one have any recommendations of books on Real Estate investing in Residential and/or Commercial? 

I would suggest if you are in the 39.6% tax bracket you could consider a C Corp at the lower tax bracket but I don't want to deal with that as I can still defer 25% of wages we pay ourselves up to $50K a year into the 401K plan we have and use that as a tax deferred vehicle to invest in additional property. 

Commercial security deposits do not have the same requirement. 

"So what is your suggestion to new guys that want to get into the commercial RE game?"

I am most interested in owning apartment units and commercial property (currently i own my personal residence with partners and it is working wonderfully !). 

Also above 4 units is commercial financing and unless you get an owner to finance or a partner the lender will require a large down payment.

You can also "Google" commercial real estate comps to see ifOther commercial online real estate platforms pop up on the screen.