Ben is all about collaboration over pure transactions.

Russ - The objective of this forum is purely education, but if you'd like to send me a direct message, I can provide additional information. 

Charleston has a very active REI community and several meetup/networking events each month that are pure gold.

There are two idea I’m batting around in my head right now to get started on my REI journey – I can do it purely on the investing side and become a private lender or a source of hard money loans to builders/developers (maybe that looks like funding a construction loan collecting interest payments while buying time to better understand the dynamics and build relationships) or I can JV/partner with a builder and get equity (upside on a flip/sale) which would be more hands on.Curious what ya’ll input, what you think is the best route for me to dip my toes into REI given my aforementioned situation and current market.

And in general there is a lot of downplaying of risk in the pursuit of pure ROI.None of that is wrong I guess, it's just not my style. 

@Rick Albert assuming that in your situation you and your investor are owning/managing these as purely investments and thus holding everything via a partnership operating agreement?  

House hack or pure investment?

This will demonstrate how the property performs as a pure rental, and it forces you to save.

Is it purely interest?

If too many people are ignoring the data, why wouldn't you be quiet about it and pay attention to it yourself, and become insanely rich from it- and sit back on your private island and laugh at all the fools who ignored it while you drink Pena Coladas From a deck chair in the sand???