Relationship Building with Lenders

[Jordan Coates]

My wife and I are just starting out with REI. We're getting close to putting in an offer on a small property that we plan to keep as a rental. I have a pre-approval through Quicken loans since they just re-financed my primary residence and still had my info on file.

If we plan to buy multiple properties in the future, what's the best lender/organization to build a relationship with?  Is it a small local bank?  Maybe a mid-size regional lender?  Is creating a relationship with a mortgage broker a good place to start?  

This first property will be very easy to get the financing for.  I'm just trying to lay the groundwork for what (we hope) follows.  So if I need to get recommendations from some local investors on a broker or something I can do that.

Thanks for the help!