What a lot of people end up doing, and sadly I'm prone to this as well, is they spend way more time learning then they need to in order to get their first deal done.

I will not be at the NY Real Estate Investors Expo but I'm sure that's a great one for meeting more people in your region!

If there's a deal with way too many people involved on both sides, they're gonna screw it up for everybody. 

Quote from @Deborah Brancheau: If you send me a PM I can get you in touch with some companies and foundation people in that area.

Transcribing transactions from bank statements, posting transactions to the correct accounts, and then manually creating an income statement, statement of owner's equity and a balance sheet is a fairly time consuming process and I have not been able to keep up with the book keeping between my regular work responsibilities.What accounting software do people recommend? 

In-person networking and meetups are great for meeting people and connecting with others in the industry.

This is the same sort of criteria a lender uses to qualify people for mortgages.

Lots of people rent houses for parties as well, and you won’t be able to do anything about it.  

It has been really educational for me because we have people from all over the US with all types of experience to learn from.

You can use other people's money if the numbers work.