It's not fool proof but I've weeded out a lot of people this way without spending money for marketing. 

In-person interactions are great for building trust with potential investors.Real Estate Platforms:BiggerPockets: A robust platform for connecting with private lenders and investors.Fund That Flip, PeerStreet, Groundfloor: Online platforms connecting investors with real estate projects.Social Media Groups: Facebook and LinkedIn groups dedicated to real estate investing often have private investors or lenders looking to connect.Personal Network: Often overlooked, but friends, family, and colleagues may know individuals interested in investing.Private Money Brokers: If you're working on wholesaling deals, you may find brokers who have established relationships with private money lenders.Real Estate Agents: Some agents have connections with private investors, especially those focused on investment properties.For your 50% LTV, it's good to approach investors who may be interested in lower-risk, high-equity deals.

If you have a chunk of money to get going I'd personally buy the biggest thing you can if you don't I think house hacking into a 4 plex is great. 

That’s great advice Taz, I’m currently working on saving enough money to get started, house hacking is hard for me at the moment because I just bought a house 2 years ago, I would have to sell my house(which is in a great neighborhood great location) and use that money to fund the duplex which isn’t totally out of the question, I would like to keep the house if possible but also would like to get real estate investing more.

Of course you can never have control of the money and you must have your QI in parcel before your sale completes. . 

Joint ventures entail utilizing your own money to buy properties with others.

It also appears Investor's Edge may have rebranded from their old company name "Do Hard Money".Propstream screenshot:"Investor's Edge/Dohardmoney" screenshot:

Use that sales money to buy more stock. 

I have the money to buy now but I would rather do creative financing and use as little money as possible out of my own pocket. looking to start with BRRR method but maybe should start with a wholesale first to fund that?

I am proud to announce that I got another client under contract on a 4Plex here in Fairbanks Alaska. They are locked in with a 6% interest rate on a property that we went above asking price on. Currently under contrac...