BP is a great place to connect and meet real estate investors and professionals.

Love your mindset—real estate is a long game, and you're starting with the right attitude!

The returns that investors require is generally based on their perceived risk of the project and the investment period.With my CFO clients who do real estate development, most LPs in the small-scale residential space (SFR & 2-4 MF) are investing for 3-5 years and are looking for a preferred return of 8% with an IRR of 16%-18% for turn-key and 18%-24% for value add.

Real estate is still a people business.

In my opinion, an in person meetup > an online connection.You may want to consider making a connection here and meeting up for coffee or attending a real estate networking event.Best of luck!

Your client should consult a real estate attorney to draft an agreement with the ex and ensure there are no legal or tax issues, especially since this is an investment property.

Figure out the cost to sell, usually 5% to the real estate agent, sometimes a "concession" fee, and other closing costs.

I'm a newbie to real estate investing and am currently focused on intensely educating myself about all things real estate and how to get my first rental property deal.

If you want to offer a "rebate" of some kind after they stay up to date for certain amount of time, I'm more inclined to go that way, but in general theres no real good reason to put yourself as the owner in the middle of the utilities unless they aren't metered in a way to bill directly.  

I used the funds to acquire real estate that appreciated signficantly.