If you want private investors, start by asking friends, family, or colleagues in your network who may wish to a passive income opportunity. 

For REP status federally, you must meet two requirements: work 750+ hours in real estate activities and spend more than 50% of your total working hours on these activities during the tax year.

but house hacking is the best way to get started wherever you choose.

@Geoff Engel I'm 42 with two tweens and got started on the FI journey about 10 years ago.

I’m very excited to start off my investment journey and have the opportunity to connect with this community. 

I’m on deal #9 and have just started to have a network big enough to start getting information on off market deals.

A lot of my friends started RE investing that way.

That will start to help form your strategy.  

Start by deepening your understanding of CRE fundamentals, including net operating income (NOI), cap rates, and lease structures like triple net (NNN).

They were referrals and the business started to grow simply because I had a competent team that was responsive and looked out for the owners' best interests.