Computer or Smartphone, an internet connection, a blank Purchase and Sales Agreement, and Assignment Contract, an investor friendly title company or lawyer(depending on which one your state uses for closings), a bank account..

Perhaps someone with more intimate knowledge of the area can validate or dispel the type of neighborhood this is but it’s normally not good if that’s one of the first things to populate on the internet.

If he has internet access, may be he will run his numbers through Edmunds.com, at least to know what the trade-in value is.

I accidentally found an apartment on the internet buy the building next to me in my old neighborhood.

You don't see the CIO of an endowment putting their sponsors on blast for the entire internet to see (at least that I know of).  

Crowdfunding is essentially old-school syndications that use newer regulations that allow them to market over the Internet. 

You resort to the internet.

The internet and video calls make the world pretty small! 

Quote from @Andy Port: I'm currently looking to take some money out of traditional investments and begin investing directly into real estate as a passive investor on syndicated deals.The internet is pretty much copy-paste with advice on how to access real estate and defaults to saying "Just invest in a REIT - its the same" except you pay for the entire pool of existing properties (even if they have low yields in less opportunistic areas), the entire management team's multi-million dollar salary and their private jet, etc...

There is nothing they do that you can't find for free on the internet.