I kind of fell into that and I knew the person that rented my house...I will not be engaging in that again, I was lucky to have come out ahead.

I am a life long Hudson County resident and work there currently.While I have experience some experience in Real Estate, I am eager to learn more and hope to engage and learn as much as I can from the forums. 

That could be a great way to find and stay engaged with local investors and opportunities. http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsYou can also search for other investors in that area and follow their journey on Bigger Pockets here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/usersBest of luck to you and look forward to following your journey!

Once you start to engage with your selected market, you'll start to pull in professionals like realtors and property managers.

I have a situation where I would like to open a self directed IRA and have contacted a few of the online players and am getting a mixed message, some say it's possible some say no way Jose'.  

In my opinion you'll have a higher success rate with a broker because not only do they know who the players are, they also know how to present your deal for the best response (and they know which ones to avoid, too). 

But your message caused me to hit the google again :)  I'll tag you and post the links back on my other post where there was a little more engagement.

Other than a real estate agent and a lawyer, what other players do we need to make this work. 

Just trying to get a better understanding of how bigger players in my market are working their deals.Also, would you be open to sharing who you are using for a property manager?

Try to engage with as many like minded individuals as you and those who have already done what you’re looking to accomplish.