Hard to read/influence the seller with listing agent in between.  

Considering they all have the same term of 12-18 months, and a projected net profit of 1.5x equity multiple, (a $1MM project, with a $1.5MM ARV) which would you rather:-Debt securities, secured by the property, monthly returns, typically at a higher rate, no accrued returns or profit sharing; or,-Preferred equity, higher risk, quarterly returns at a lower current rate, with a set accrued return which brings your total returns higher than would be with debt; or,-Common equity, highest risk, quarterly returns similar to preferred equity, profit sharing upon sale or refinancing the property based on your % equity ownership.Also, any additional information you're willing to share would be great such as the type of deals you've invested in and the performance/results of those investments, especially if they influenced your decision.

Curious to know your thoughts and whether Californians are truly that major/widespread an influencer in other markets. 

They didn't discuss FICO scores as an influence to the loan.  

The most egregious error in the last credit cycle was the lack of a gatekeeper with meaningful influence, whether it’s the rating agencies, bank regulators, or the CMBS B-Piece buyers.

Find an influencer agent at a large brokerage.  

Think about your activities that you’re involved with.You want to draw the seller out to talk about themselves.Dale Carnegie wrote “how to win friends and influence people” wrote about behavior of people.People like to do business with people that they like and they trust.

Yes, but you will need to factor in influences risks, degree of management and costs of holding assets, investor's time, experience and knowledge being similar, differences in liquidity, marketability of the asset as well as growth or appreciation expectations. 

Our job has nothing to do with real estate, but we fell in love with investing due to the influence of "Rich dad, Poor dad" and HGTV show.

"How to master the art of selling" "influence" "pitch anything" and then Charlie Munger's 25 cognitive biases are a great place to start.