That's ultimately the answer to your question.

My ultimate goal is to buy and hold for cash flow, but start out flipping and wholesaling for funding.

Have you already read the Ultimate Beginner's Guide to REI here https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investingIt would be a good start as it shows you the paths you can take to start in REI

There's a free kindle version on Amazon now:  "BiggerPockets Presents: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing" by Joshua Dorkin and Brandon Turner (BP hosts). 

If you are trying to close the deal, you need to make the cash flow look as strong as possible is the ultimate point.

Get a more in-depth feel for the types of deals that your new friends like to participate in, their risk tolerance, etc.Step #3- Find the appropriate deal that would be a good fit based on the criteria you learned in Step #2.Obviously there are a lot of nuances to buying property, forming syndications, etc but I just wanted to help kickstart you.If possible, I would rinse and repeat the above steps, while attending Dave Lindahl's Ultimate Partnering in September and @Gino Barbaro's event in October. 

If you provice me with an email address I'll forward to her via the Upwork site and she'll reach out to you.And hope your home—and those close to you—survived the floods!

@Brian H.Yes... maybe the ultimate beginners guide is pretty good.

I started looking at properties in June of last year, and offered on the property that I ultimately purchased, August 10th, and closed on Sept 20th.

Bigger Pockets is the ultimate game changer when it comes to successful real estate investing.