If you purchase a multiplex where you can obtain some equity quickly then you have some buffer if prices depreciate a little.  

If I can get a 15%-20% IRR and keep it going for several years that will give me 4-6X return on my starting capital + wages earned after 8-10 years.My goal is to hit $4m by 40; buy a $1m house, $500k buffer, and $2.5m to fund a 4-5% annuity so I can travel the world in a jeep, car, boat, whatever and retain the optionality to stay at a nice hotel/ home-tel when I want to :)Anyways if anyone in the Bay Area has the same goals, interested in construction/ real estate especially out of state opportunities, hit me up, I am open for chat/ whatsapp/ coffee or w/e. 

@Christopher Morin That is why I charge a fortune for roof jobs, I only failed once out of 9 jobs, small leak on the fascia, lesson learned, put buffer in case things hit the fan.

I'm guessing he put in some buffer between the contract amount and what he is trying sell it to me for.

There are supplemental origination fees, inspection fees, safety buffer contingencies for the rehab.

Frankly, no investor should ever be putting down their last penny - you should always have a buffer.

Their company has contractors they utilize on a weekly basis for current deals.Their fee 3% commission on the sale when purchasing.6% commission when we sale.5k for rehab jobs 16k and over2500 for rehab jobs 15k and under - misc $1000 buffer 2500 still appliesMy question is are the above fees too high or is it normal?

Interested in Princeton, NJ & Wilmington DE area - Investing Goal: Buy low townhouse/small single house that yields small buffer from rental income post loan/opex (hopefully).Pros/colleagues in NJ/DE area - please help me get started with guidance on establishing connections and really help me define roadmap - 1. should I find an real estate agent who deals with foreclosure/short sell. 2. is foreclosure/short sale really the right first investment for a completely clueless person to start3. what should be first step to start getting hands dirty and not just read books/ blogs - kind of action oriented learning.Hope to hear and get some awesomeness trickle through..Ashish

The 10k difference was a Buffer, built into my analysis, but I didn't throw that part in on the OP.

I'm not sure if this is too close to be next to all that or if it is necessary to have a buffer zone of a quarter mile or so?