Curious as to how you guys do things...

[Brandon T.]

Hey guys,

I'm not super new to real estate investing, but I am new to BP.  I spent a few years in the restaurant industry as well as other small business ventures while dabbling in real estate, but have just started getting serious about it. I'm focusing primarily on increasing my portfolio of cash flow properties.  I'm currently a Personal Trainer and Sports Nutrition Specialist, but have just recently started flipping houses, as well as building a fitness boot camp and diet coaching business, to generate additional cash to put into buying more properties. 

I'm curious as to how you guys:

1. Find agents to work with that have investment experience and are knowledgeable about the best areas for investing in various price ranges, or if you rely on wholesalers, direct mail marketing, etc. I'm investing in Richmond, Va and have heard there are great properties around in the $30k- $50k's and I'm trying to figure out how to find them. Also, if you have any recommendations I'm all ears!

2. Find the best rates for mortgages. I've been searching for a mortgage broker in Richmond, Va and can only seem to find individual lenders. Do you guys just make a list of all the lenders you can find and call everyone on it? Are some lenders better with "creative financing" than others? Again, if there are any recommendations I'm wide open!

3. My previous properties were purchased either with cash, or through business loans prior to all the mortgage changes, so making offers and closing under an LLC was not a big deal. Now that I'm using mortgage lenders everyone is telling me that I have to close in my own name and then transfer title to an LLC or land trust, unless I get a commercial loan with higher interest rates. Does anyone have a workaround for this, or do we as investors just have to make a choice now between anonymity/privacy and better interest rates?

This is my first post, so please forgive me if I posted in the wrong area or if these questions have been addressed elsewhere. I've spent quite a few hours on here searching and didn't come across exactly what I was looking for but I'm still learning how to use the site.