The best thing you can do is find someone who you can talk with occasionally to help steer you for your first 1-2 deals.Look for someone local who does it by participating in local REI meetups, call a few real estate offices and ask for an agent who is also a RE investor, look online for a connection who can give you some time.RE is hyper-local so your best resource is someone who is familiar with the area you will be operating in.Even with 20 years experience I am glad to have a CFP who understands real estate so that I can bounce ideas around.

You have to be careful, especially if the contractor is not a referral and you "found" them online. 

Tons of free information online on how to do this, what to look for in land, where to buy it and then resell it.

Online reviews can be a good place to start to get a general feel for a lenders reputation and consistency. 

@Mikhail EgorovWe do 20 Flips/BRRRRs per year and use these tools:Underwriting - DealCheckCRM - ClickUpProject Management - ClickUpBookkeeping - QuickBooks Online Plus Team Communication - SlackFile Storage - Google Drive

There are a few books and many online resources available for learning how to become a private lender, @Christopher Martin.  

I'll never look for furniture online again.

I will say that there is a ton of free info online.

I have looked online but it seems kinda fuzzy and the idea seems great but my understanding is that doing a syndication requires a lot of capital to meet the proper SEC requirements.

Appraisers would do on-line and see the business website.