There is a great group of members on here to connect with.

Yep too many groups like this.

There is a good real estate professional group in the area that I think mainly communicate via Facebook.

I'd also recommend joining a local Indianapolis based REIA asap. the REIA will provide a group of investors who could get you some contractor recommends if you decide to GC the prop yourself.You said it "needs a little work done" but budgeted $50k so those two things kind of contradict unless the home is a larger home...just curious, what's "a little work", if you haven't had an inspection yet and don't feel comfortable evaluating the costs on your own?

Our Brokerage runs the largest REI networking group in Lansing.

@Chris GibbinsI am in a group where many have invested in atm funds and they are not going well at all.

I can't speak to Richmond, but when I started out I was able to get referrals to a good agent from a real estate investor group in my area. 

Bruce closet I saw that came to idiot proof rentals was a group of homes in Hattisburg MS.

Second offer which is $12K lower than list price, no rate buy down, and seller won't pay the buyer agent commission.Morgage payment with a conservative LTR payment is break even,  Coc is 6.3% , and I'm super bummed that my agent won't get paid.We could put in cash to pay him, but it would come out of the renov + Furnishings cast slotted for the property.Any creative financing thinking from this group on:How to pay my agent AND not dip into our cash funds for prepping the property?

1. coaching- all of the "coaches" were newbies themselves with about 1 year of experience and about 1 deal under their belts and they always disappear after 2-3 months and get replaced with new "coaches".2. networking- they have a FB group, populated primarily by other newbies. go there to answer questions, and it's likely you'll get other newbies saying "good question". there are lots of newbies hoping to get into a deal, but who wants to put together a team where every single person is brand new with no experience?