People don’t get paid a lot for providing a contact information on someone who say is in foreclosure.  

Most people never own a single rental.

This is the max it seems most "A" lenders will loan too, I might get 50% from a credit union but that still probably not help in the short term.How do people keep going?

I've only invested in STRs and was looking to get into small multi-family but haven't seen anything that made sense in any of the markets I invest in so was curious where people were seeing good opportunities.  

Sentiment:  I want to see more people hate real estate. 

Eric,, I think why people go for the fund model is the idea that they are spreading their money into multiple notes being held by the company.. while in theory this is great but as you noted you don't really have any security compared to being the beneficiary of the debt instrument IE debt is in your name. 

This is something a lot of people need to read going into flipping..

I've got properties in (2) towns currently that are around 10k people in each town.

A majority of people who rent homes here have 100% equity in them so any rent will cash flow. 

The reality of investing is often much different than people see on social media - you need the fuel to power your investment properties!