You're much more likely to get an active investor to partner with you if you find a great deal, than you are to find some random person with money to trust your judgment. 

I would never just find a random lender online, that sounds just dangerous unless you can really determine credibility.

You don't have to spend time communicating with random people if you don't want to.

A crash is a crash but let's not be rashFor noone knows when will be a housing crashNot your mum, your dad nor your brother shall knowNor random people on BP who sit counting their doughAsking is fun but the answer is toughSo keep your pennies on the sideline and buy when it's rough-An excerpt from Green Duplexes & Bandit Sign Spam

I  had a ritual where I would randomly choose one un-suspecting friend around town, and drop the beers off on their porch.

Hey Stuart, I randomly came across this thread researching short term rentals in Perdido Key.

The outcome of your life isn't based on random probability, while schooling may make success easier or harder, it's more about the individual and the effort put into it.

No use to have a random $100 account out there.

I grew up with dogs as well and would never just randomly bring my dog into someone else's house.

No self sufficiency rule for 2 unit.Since you are in a high cost of living area, you will definitely get the biggest bang for your buck doing a low money down house hack using fha or VA loan (if you qualify) than putting 20% down on a random out of state market that you may not know very well.Best of luck!