Mentors are found by building relationships at meetups in real life, not online when you are just getting started unless you are using the forums as your meetup and you are really getting to know people.4.

Are you refinancing because you need to take money from equity for the divorce?

Recommend Googling for recent projects, then looking them up at the city's online site to find out who the architects are.

These "bandit" signs are everywhere in NYC and I have yet to ever come across someone who has called them to actually sell their property - most people I know have looked up something online and landed on an option through that route. 

And once the houses are up, are prices going to come down as new units come online but homebuyers pool increases continuously while they all have $25k?

Hi Chetan,I’d suggest keeping a close watch on your cash flow when considering raising capital or refinancing.

Then I paid $25 to some online background check agency to find out if the owner had any other liens/bankruptcies/judgments against them and also got their contact info from there.

If you cash out refinance you incur (more or less) all the lending fees associated with a financed property purchase (even though you are just refinancing the property you already own), and then you incur significant fees when you sell the property (closing costs, commissions, etc).  

You can also check meetup.com or search Facebook for real estate investment groups, clubs, or meetings in your area.I'm in a small town where networking is impossible, so I do it online through facebook groups and BiggerPockets.

So many people out there ,  that have online courses.