The bottom line my friend is that real estate investing has made the most wealthy people, no other field. 

But happy to connect, I'm a former marine who saw MF as a way to build generational wealth. I

The VA loan is such an amazing tool that we have for building wealth. I

The general rule is that if an investor has little cash and wants to become wealthy in 10 to 20 years, then leveraging other people's money (obtaining a mortgage) is the (only) way to go.

If you have any particular tips on networking with wealthy potential investors I would greatly appreciate the assistance and information.

This is great if you know the game of the wealthy and invest significantly in hard assets; most of which that produce income. 

Its an old cliché but 'Motivated sellers will make you wealthy and happy.'

@Thomas Loggins not saying that any of these are the absolute right or wrong answer, but all are food for thought on the topic:Operators using online crowdfunding sites may not have access to or relationships with institutional or high net worth investors.Operators on online crowdfunding sites might benefit from including non-accredited investors AND smaller investment amounts; less experience, smaller list of investors, want to scale faster, etc.Operators using online crowdfunding sites might be excellent Operators with no interest in investor relations or building a list of investorsCrowdfunding sites can offer streamlined investor portals, communications and fundingLarger investors at say $500K plus may require more control so more, smaller investors might be ideal to some OperatorsFor Operators using online crowdfunding sites, maybe one of their values is that they believe all people deserve access to quality investment opportunities, not just the high income earners, wealthy, or institutional groupsFor Operators not using online crowdfunding sites, perhaps they prefer to build close personal relationships with all investorsA lot of the top notch, experienced Operators don't need to advertise/crowd source and have a large list of private investors lining up at the door for their next dealEven for an Operator who typically typically does 506b, maybe they're in a situation where doing a 506c makes sense from a compliance perspective (example: a big fund that has a chance of getting out there on social media or the like, so better safe than sorry) and at that point advertising on a crowdfunding site is just a "might as well" stepFor Operators using online crowdfunding sites, maybe their deals are thinner, so they can't offer the higher returns that institutional money requires (because they have access to so many deals) so they have to turn to those with access to fewer deals and thus will accept lower returnsI don't think either one is a clear cut better choice.

I understand this is a loaded question and will vary based on asset class but think in terms of how you would position a portfolio and what you would expect if it were your sole source of income (and you were not ultra-wealthy).  

I will not start investing in lower-class neighborhoods, but as I build wealth I will buy in my old neighborhood that happens to be very rough.