Quote from @Michael Challenger: I have no qualms with hard money lending, but I need to learn more about the process and structure to these for typical deals so that I am more comfortable and in a position to reduce my personal risk and risk to investors as much as possible.

That depends on a lot of personal factors such as your finances.

We’re developers managing our own portfolio and don’t have any outside investors.

You picked a good week to meet other investors: the RPA is hosting their annual RPA-CON Friday and Saturday in Milwaukee.

Some investors are hands-on and some are not.

2.How can I better evaluate and communicate an investor’s return on investment (ROI)?

That's just my personal way of really feeling like I've comprehended the topics rather than just listened to them. 2.

Whether the seller was open to a buyer commission or not, I wouldn't put an additional cost into any personal purchase.  

@Chris Mahoo many new investors don't take the time to properly understand RE investing.1) Many are using approaches from 2010-2018 when Class A property prices were so low from the Great RE Crash that an investor could cashflow and get pretty easy Class A tenants to manage.2) If you look at what investors were doing before 2008-2010, most were buying Class B & C rentals.To make it worth while, an investor either needs to Fix & Flip or invest & hold rentals for 10+ years.- Over a 10 year period cashflow will increase as rents increase (rents typically rise faster than property taxes, insurance, etc.)- The property should be appreciating, if purchased in a good location, increasing the owner's equity/wealth.- Rents will be paying the mortgage off, increasing the owner's equity/wealth.- If you hold a rental until death, you can pass it on with a stepped-up cost basis, limiting captial gains if then sold (limited by inheritance tax limitations).Too many newbies on this site trying to replace their day job income via "passive" real estate investing w/o digging deep enough to understand how it really works.

I highly recommend going to meetups and talking to investors in person.