Education is the key.Some of the professional organizations, such as the American Association of Private Lenders and the CMA, are good sources of lending attorneys, as well as offering excellent webinars and courses.

We finally found an excellent broker, he's not the cheapest but not the most expensive, but he is very responsive and is always looking for ways to save money.  

@Russell Brazil Excellent answer.

E-commerce is growing and could be an excellent opportunity for you to raise capital fast.

I have an excellent long-term tenant who causes me no landlord headaches.

I have an excel sheet I have used for years to analyze VR. happy to share as well.Shoot me a PM

House hacking is an excellent way to get started.

First off these are excellent questions. 

If you have excel, google docs, or Open office on your IPAD, and are hesitant about that deal on your prospected property, run it through this template and find out what your COC-ROI will be year end.   

Higher an excellent real estate attorney and pay him to do every trick in the book to postpone the foreclosure.