Would it make sense to reduce risk and use his connections first and invest it that area?

You also want to go to real estate investor meetups to get reps with people who do what you want to do.

This is the max it seems most "A" lenders will loan too, I might get 50% from a credit union but that still probably not help in the short term.How do people keep going?

W2s, personal homes and K1s are usually straightforward and can be DIY-ed by most computer-savvy and financially-savvy people.

Lots of other people had bad experiences. 

I see a lot of posts from people about what "other people" said.

A lot of people haven't even heard of it.

Most people answer zero.

@Christopher Reynolds My mantra has always been, "Live where you want to live; invest where it makes sense."

I think you bring up a good point of considering offering higher returns to investors if I have to begin to search outside of my network.But my original question from the post still remains, where would you recommend I search for people interested in an opportunity like this?