There are many here in my local area and your area is likely to have the same type of meetings.Most of the deals that I fund are by meeting investors in person at these groups and creating strong relationships. 

My personal preference for a buy and hold would be an already established area (or an area that's still gentrifying, but has already seen significant progress). 

There is an amount that you can distribute from an IRA account to purchase a personal residence.You then might be able to turn the personal residence into an investment property.Best of luck.

Quote from @Daniel Windingstad: Quote from @Obed Calixte: Some people have the personality, processes and systems & time to self manage, some do not.

It can come from a personal investor who will negotiate terms, or potentially a piece of the equity.

My wife and I plan to purchase a few properties ourselves, but with the lead generation strategies I’ll be implementing, I expect to come across more deals than we can personally handle.That’s where you come in!

I do have an agent I know personally but she's only in the area at certain times of the year.Section 8 would be better than nothing.

@Jerry Chilimidos I am not a CPA owever my understanding is any loans to your IRA can not be personally guaranteed.

Real-life reps, to me, means seeing properties in person, whatever your asset class. 

If the person stops making payments, they alas,  have to foreclose.