Had older heat system that needed to be updated.

Welcome to the community!

If the credit screening costs $25, then you earn nothing.I believe there are exceptions for a higher fee, but you have to stick to the actual cost of the screening.I would talk to an attorney before charging more than $25 per applicant.

I take it from your comment that your preference is to Ground lease?  

They are very expensive typists who will fill out forms for you and give you access to MLS.A bad broker will cost you 5-10% of price, a good broker will make a property cashflow. 

You may want to read up on wholesaling as a way to generate some capital.

I would like to connect with investors in the same asset class to validate some of my underwriting assumptions. 

One of the biggest mistakes newer investors make is over-rehabbing houses and spending too much money on these low ARV homes.

Welcome to BiggerPockets!

I'm not quite sure how effective this would be.