For the actual marketing to that list, it depends on your market, but typically you are speaking to Gen Xers or late Baby Boomers, so have to tailor your efforts that way.

There are plenty of leverage options that are tailored to real estate investors.Just save up as much money as you can, and start talking with different lenders about your mortgage options.

@Lyndon Major Truly get to know them and surprise them w/ thoughtful gifts/experiences tailored to what they love in life.For example:  A single mom whose life is your work and her kid. 

Where can I get a great rental tailored for TEXAS market?

However, I also let them know the benefits of selling to me and how "I can tailor a custom transaction for you that makes you feel comfortable".I spend about 90% of the time talking about and asking personal things non related to real estate.

As Chris said the EMD is whatever you guys agree too.Around here you usually see it as $500-1000 on listed places but no reason you can't say $100 and see if they are okay with it.You can generally assign MA contracts but it can be good to get ones tailored more towards wholesaling too.  

How do you recommend I tailor my resume towards such a vastly different field?

I want to help people, and start my own Financial Planning company tailor at a niche community of immigrants.

Just have to work that out tailored to the individuals.

I'll add a couple of examples I found helpful, the first chapter is called The Broken Window. when a rock is thrown through a window, some people go on and on how this is wonderful, this creates work for someone to fix the window, but in reality, if the window hadn't been broken the owner of the shop would have bought a new suit instead, and created work for a tailor, and had both a new suit and a window, not just a window. but no one ever saw the suit because it never came into existence because the owner of the shop had to use his limited resources to buy a window. but everyone can see the window and the job "created" by it so they are fooled into thinking a job was created and a window was brought into existence and that this was productive.the second chapter, creating jobs for the sake of job creation is really just moving jobs around, and usually the market not the government can best decide what people actually want and need.