Mentors are found by building relationships at meetups in real life, not online when you are just getting started unless you are using the forums as your meetup and you are really getting to know people.4.

Recommend Googling for recent projects, then looking them up at the city's online site to find out who the architects are.

These "bandit" signs are everywhere in NYC and I have yet to ever come across someone who has called them to actually sell their property - most people I know have looked up something online and landed on an option through that route. 

In theory you could also recover 1/6th of the CAM costs, too, but in my very limited experience with mixed use, the first floor commercial could very well push back on that, since they very well may not be utilizing almost any of the common area, depending on building layout.CAM would come from any number of places, commonly:Cleaning and utilities for any common lobby.Window cleaning for the buildingParking lot maintenanceLandscapingCommon HVAC maintenance, i.e. if a single furnace heats multiple spacesUltimately, you will want to be talking with either a commercial leasing agent or an attorney that specializes on commercial leases.One thing to note, while NNN leases are generally great, there is certainly work for you on a semi consistent basis, in creating the monthly escrow amounts and annual reconciliation.  

Then I paid $25 to some online background check agency to find out if the owner had any other liens/bankruptcies/judgments against them and also got their contact info from there.

You can also check meetup.com or search Facebook for real estate investment groups, clubs, or meetings in your area.I'm in a small town where networking is impossible, so I do it online through facebook groups and BiggerPockets.

And once the houses are up, are prices going to come down as new units come online but homebuyers pool increases continuously while they all have $25k?

So many people out there ,  that have online courses.

.-- All the info you need is available online from the local assessor, and pay attention to what the local community has tacked on to the mill rate.

There are a lot of online sources out there versus going to the local courthouse.