If you are just getting started with limited cash, I would concentrate on learning these alternative methods.

For our first deal I just scoured the internet, found the lowest rate out there, and got a conventional mortgage.

Give me a few months ;) I think it goes without saying that negative comments on an internet forum would be the least of the challenges that I or anyone else will face.  

I would concentrate on building your network of real estate agents and other investors.

But I read that the boom is occurring almost exclusively east of the tracks and is very concentrated, hence the rise in median prices.

@Dennis Johnson- I've paid for various guru courses and coaching programs and here's the benefits that I've experienced:Specialized knowledge from people that have achieved a status that I aspire to be at (as opposed to taking all types of info from random people on the internet). 

Buying an investment property in a building that has an investor concentration of higher than 30% of the units is a major no-no.

@Justin MurrayWelcome to BP, this is the best place to learn on the internet about real estate investing for free.

I don't do this "for a living" (I'm a Director of Technical Quality Assurance, for the record) and I don't know what I am within my rights to ask or demand of these guys.Reading the internet is a scary thing...

One of the call center people at one of the big internet lenders you're familiar with quoted a rate shopper with <700 FICO 3.75% at no points the other day.