Good afternoon,
Here are some thoughts;
1) Finding motivated sellers in an area where you do not have access to MLS and are trying to invest in. Good question. I would not typically start with a commercial realtor that you do not have any connection with. They will usually pass their good deals to larger buyer that they have experience with and know can close. In my market, which is smaller, (150K MSA) I have found that occasionally a mom and pop owner who has a complex between 12-60 units will often go to a local residential realtor that they associate as one who "specializes in investment property" to list the complex. Often times these are these are the local realtors who do Fannie Mae or FHA foreclosure listings. I have found that often a realtor who does not specialize in commercial listing will run very basic calculations to come up with a listing price. Even if they are famaliar with cap rates and roughly how to calculate NOI, they do not exclude or put below the line capital expenditures and other non regular expenses. This can result in the property being listed at a much lower price than a commercial realtor would list it. Also, I have found that they are also often not as up to speed on current cap rates and may be using number that are year or two old. If I were looking in an area I did not live in I would go to homepath.com, the Fannie Mae REO site and look at the listing in the area. I suspect that a handful of realtors, maybe only one has all of the listings. I would reach out to them and advise you are interested whenever they get a multifamily listing and they can add you to their email list.
2) There are always investors who need money. Becoming a lender is easy, the tough part is determining who to lend to, the terms, and to make sure there is enough equity to make sure you are protected. I would either attend a local REI Meeting in your area and network. It is easy to put the word out. Other option is to find out what attorney office or title company does most investor closings in your area and contact them. I do a small amount short term private lending from time to time. Yesterday a property I lent money on closed. I went by the title company to pick up my check and the attorney in the office told me if I wanted to she has 4 or 5 people with deals looking for money and would be glad to put me in touch with any or all of them.
3)Finding partners. Agree with your thoughts. One other thought is that a private money arrangement can build some bit of trust that could lead to a partnership if all goes well. My only thoughts are to make sure the agreement amount partners is clearly spelled out in legal documents, and everyone knows, understands and agrees as to who has what responsibilities.
