Currently, asking some of my close friends to help sign a lease agreement with me.

Chaz Carrillo is an investor friendly Insurance Broker in the Lansing area. 517-230-9214

The market is showing SOME promising deal but I would appreciate a mentor or friend who wouldn’t mind teaching me how to spot a deal in the numbers.

There are a lot more grey areas with commercial - again when in doubt make friends with a local attorney :)

I would suggest finding an investor friendly contractor who understands the difference of the scope between a flip and a rental and preferably is an investor themselves.

I would suggest staying along the train lines and also looking for rental friendly areas.

Those cost in terms of lost rent, but also cleaning out the stuff that was left behind.If your place is managed by a PM, expect a 1 month vacancy (only once I have had no vacancy with my PM manage places, and once I had 2 months as they messed up and held it for a person-friend of the owner-who didn't put down a deposit and then they dropped the ball). 

Today, these folks are my core network and absolute best friends.

I've looked heavily at Bakersfield myself, and have some friends there.

I had a project bite me in the butt because I wasn't more diligent in "checking in" on the contractor.If you need any help or additional advice, feel free to reach out I have helped a lot of my investor friends purchase properties in other counties in California.