In The Tampa Bay Area local investor in the items inside the home/business but looking to get with the right people to build a team.

Best of luck on your journey, and remember, delayed gratification is your best friend in this business!

And don't forget, states don't have 4-profit business to create wealth, no money-tree out in a yard to shake, states $ is from THE PEOPLE, so that $50 Billion is all Californians paying for it.  

In south Florida, there are a ton of free RE networking events where contractors, agents, mortgage brokers, etc all meet for drinks etc and I have found this to be a great way to find good people in the business.

I'm not accredited, and unless my business explodes, it's not likely I will be in the next few years.

The lenders were very good and communicating at first, but as we got close to closing, we could not reach a single person in the company during business hours.

More than anything, real estate is a people business.

More than 90 percent of real estate agents are out of the business in less than five years.

My business partners and I are looking into it but I want to do my research. 

And to be honest, I have only considered a hard money loan because that is what my few mentors primarily use to fund their flipping businesses.