We will be needing funding following the completion of this project, and want to lay the ground work for a business showing income that banks like.

I heard most of these lists are free but you do have to do done groundwork.

After you have done the ground work, You can (& possibly should :) ) invest in out of town properties if it works.

If you've set the ground work for that right away and have been honest you'll get a bit more respect off the bat.

A wholesaler does all the boots on ground work for you.

Assuming that we each split the up front cash needed 50/50, my partner has recently retired from his full time job and able to act as a general contractor role dealing with all aspects of on the ground work, however, I am the one who is still employed with a decent income from W-2  (my partner also has maxed out his credit due to his other real estate endeavors) and therefore, the plan is for me to obtain finance if the deal is financeable or, if not financeable, we will each contribute equal amount of cash, and then cash out refi using only my credit.  

I've created an LLC for rental properties and am setting the groundwork for financing to get the ball rolling.

But I wouldn't try to drag my best contact (realtor/investor lady) through every step of the "boots on the ground" work that I have to do.

I've heard writing multiple offers sight unseen, providing lots of comps and doing lots of ground work to get a deal but I'm wondering if there's anything else other investors are really hungry for that they don't find or that are rare and I like to know what my peers around the country are doing for investors.

Its a short read about how money works in the simplest terms possible, and since REI is all about financial freedom, it really helps to lay an intelligent groundwork.