I will summarise my learnings to date and share a little about the process/rules I have developed here to hopefully be successful in REI in the Portuguese market.

I don't deny that it's tough if you don't have family or contacts of your own, but with enough time and patience, I think it should be possible to develop contacts. 

Additionally, you may wish to speak with a CPA as to whether or not becoming an S Corp is the right decision – they can assist with reducing self-employment taxes.

Quote from @Adam Ortiz: Hey everyone,My biggest dream is to own my own property, and start developing some cash flow.

Eventually you'll start developing relationships with people in the market that will bring you off market deals, but they have to believe that you can close the deal.

Reg D 506 b allows "self accreditation".  

Quote from @Armell Mayers: Started out 4 years ago not knowing anything about Real Estate and have been self-taught till this day!! 

I spent a decade in advertising, before founding and running a custom wood shop for another decade, so 'm pretty good at the self-promotion.I agree with you that the more gorilla approach would be most effective and that's actually what i've been doing – calling RE agents in my service area with active listings, introducing myself to property managers and leasing agents...To answer your question, I will have to handle the work myself for 6-12 months to build out the SOPs and field service management systems, but I have a lot of relationships for those looking to "do the work".I'll check out the meet up and would love to grab a cup of coffee, I'll shoot you an email.

Remember, the notion of amassing wealth without investing is a dangerous myth perpetuated by self-proclaimed experts.

As for the experience suggestion, thank you for your bluntness JHL, we all need that reality check, but I also have 42 years (bought my first property at 16 years old) and 5 generations of real estate investment behind me and am always looking for new developments in this dynamic business.