Per your request, you need local relationships. 

Depending on the transaction sizes you are pursuing, raising money to purchase property without debt requires either an incredible network of relationships or devoting a lot of time and effort to raising money.

My biz partner and I 100% believe community and building authentic relationships in the real estate space is so important for growth.

The challenge was balancing the relationship between landlord/tenant and a personal/friendly relationship.

Acquiring Clients: For those who’ve raised capital successfully and built a strong network of clients, how did you go about finding and nurturing those relationships?

Quote from @La Toya Flowers Butler: I'm a newbie to real estate investing, looking to learn, cultivate business relationships, and invest!  

The intent of getting a sales agent license is to educate myself in Real Estate and create some additional income.If your relationship is such that you need to hide your license, you’d be better off with a different working relationship.  

you live and die by your sub contractor relationships.. this is the key in my mind.

But one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in my journey is that relationships are often the most critical part of success.

@Jonathan Blanco, I'm and investor and a licensed mortgage broker so I've been on both sides of this conversation.I would look for a lender that (1) listens to you and understands your strategy and needs (hint: it's not always money), (2) has experience working with clients executing your strategy and brings more to the table than just cash - be it advice, relationships, deal-team partners, etc., (3) gives you viable options and explains the pros and cons of each option and (4) you enjoy interacting with - this should be a relationship, not a transaction.Once you find a few lenders like this (and you should have relationships with more than one), then you can start comparing rates and fees.