Finding a good mentor can help, education helps, sources like BP can help ultimately action is required.  

I would also say that markets like Manhattan are not super representative of most markets in the US - a lot of foreign investment I'd imagine in NYC, Miami etc - I'd guess a lot of these cash purchases are more about exchanging unstable or risky foreign assets/currencies for perceived stability/safety of US top metro residential real estateI think in a lot of other markets where this isn't relevant - I think most are cash offers being "king" as not having appraisal or other contingencies that might sabotage the sale after 30 days or so and make people re-list (sellers will take less to avoid this risk and downside)

It makes more sense for them to keep that cost "in house" then to put source it.

Unlike other sources, you will have full access to critical information like the Agent-to-Agent remarks.

You can use the free versions of Airdna and Data Rabbu to see how well those sources predict it could do. 

Does anyone have any experience with receiving any grant funding, whether be it government or private sector? I've been looking at different programs, mostly through the government for areas that I'm interested in inv...

The 'rule of thumb' that everyone should ALWAYS follow is... educate yourself and verify everything - Whenever you put money into any investment you need to research the rules that apply to that investment strategy from alternate sources and verify what you are being told - Never make an investment if you don't understand the issues and verify every claim made through county public records and other, 3rd party sources. 

Forming the LLC in the state where the property is located might be more straightforward, avoiding the need to register as a foreign LLC in that state.2.

In the DC area we deal with a lot of foreign nationals that work at the embassies and consulates.

@Vy LeRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.