I am definitely looking to connect with existing and new leads in Akron and Cleveland 

Another common problem is poor due diligence—jumping into deals without verifying the borrower or collateral often leads to future regrets.I’ve also seen over-leveraged borrowers cause trouble, prioritizing other creditors over private lenders.

Many of the OTAs and lead gen sites, like Furnished Finder, are pushing credit card payments. 99.9% of the time I get a message from FF saying 'your tenant would prefer to pay by credit card so activate Stripe now!' 

You may be better off trying to connect with some agents or other investors/wholesalers in your area and try and get off-market leads sent to you.

All the leads I've found so far have balked at either the "investment property" requirement, the "in California" requirement (or both!)

Quote from @Hector Romero: Hello all, I am new to the community as well as being the lead in real estate investments.My sister and I currently hold 3 properties next to each other in Riverside County, California (we'd like to get them in an LLC but we're unsure how that may affect financing them).

Avoid leading with a low offer or mentioning how long it’s been listed.

You can learn to do this independently or get a rockstar REALTOR to lead the way.

Just keep in mind that contractors may hesitate to attend multiple pre-inspections, especially if they lead to no work.

Uncertainty leads to higher interest rate expectation.