I'm open to hosting here at my place in Estrella Mountain Ranch, I've got three young kids that go to bed around 8, so we could gather here after dinner around 7.  

If it's later in the day such as dinner sometimes I would say the next morning. 

there are many meetups and REIAs in the Baltimore area as well as regular dinners and luncheons.

Take my dog for a walk, make dinner for my Fiancée and sit down and talk to her for an hour every day.

That's like 2-3 dinners out.  

Appraisal fees actually need to go up, significantly, as the speed/volume that they need to churn appraisals out at in order to be able to put dinner on the table, is the #1 thing hurting folks trying to use the BRRRR strategy. 

Something else to consider is; if things were to go south, what would Thanksgiving dinner be like?

A real mentor wouldn't charge you anything, or maybe just you paying for drinks and dinner while you discuss your strategy.Personally, my friend's father owned LOTS of real estate when he and I were growing up, so we got to see the bad side of owning real estate.  

It makes it much easier when you think wow - my dinner of chicken, veggies, rice, and beans cost about $3 on average, compared to the dinner out which goes for $15-$20 at minimum.

Garret Shoot me a note when you're in Seattle and we can tag up for dinner to discuss deal hunting.