I know the Realty Mogul CEO has been on BP several times and contributed in some posts so I will check into their site some since it appears they're one of the handful of major players in addition to Fundrise.

And some of us are registered with these sites that are most likely someday to be players in the 'portal' business for non-accredited CF activities.

Most the big players are doing pay-per-click and direct mail.

I'm very interested in networking with other players in the area and getting my venture off the ground.

I mean chess is easy  but the level of players varies considerably.  

I used to play high stakes poker and it was amazing how many players threw in a winning hand because I raised and acted as if I were going to keep raising until the cows came home and all of a sudden they were thinking they were going to lose.

Go see the property you're thinking about buying, then go see another 10, spend some time in the neighborhoods, buy your proposed property manager lunch and then go buy a couple other local players lunch.  

When you make the CD be sure to make it with a format that's compatible with your CD player. 

You'll see who the players are and get a handle on the average of properties that are up for auction but not sold.

And investing on your own can't hurt, obviously, but institutional players tend to want people with institutional mindsets, which is why it's good to get a degree that institutions will respect.Several years ago, when I was thinking about changing jobs from law to real estate, I sat down with a college friend whose family owns one of the world's biggest development firms.