Or a bigger player like those. 

They can introduce you to all the local players you will need like property managers and lenders.Over time, increase your own personal knowledge and development with books, podcasts, and conferences on the topic.But finding a commercial real estate broker with a teacher's heart will go a long way to getting you started.To your success!

Jay I know you are a player in this space as well - but I am curious to your opinion on finding decent loans to buy.

If you can network and find local players (FB groups, meetups) that could help speed it up

There are some players that operate thousands of SF homes.

Two of the biggest players in this space just folded.

The best buyers agents provide insight to the market, negotiate to get a better deal, provides clarity to the transaction, steadies the nerves of buyers (first time home buyers for example), identifies problems with the property, introduces a whole cast of players to get the deal done etc.

Then there's misaligned incentives players in the construction industry may make more money the longer a project takes to get completed. 

YUP minimum requirements.. although you would be surprised how many folks cannot get a bond because they lack credit score.. this will weed out the really poor players and give state a vehicle to regualted those that violate the laws without all the grey area currently.

Interesting - I have been investing in Philly for 8 years, run a  group of 2500 small landlords, speak at lots of events, know and network with many of the players  . . . but never heard of him before.