The number of people who have called many of us saying they saw some article online or watched some tickytok video and did something COMPELTELY wrong is staggering.  

-I'm fairly careful with communication , but again, I know doing business online is way riskier, but I want to ask: Typically, I would trust someone who seems very in-depth, informative (gives statistics and numbers), and basically would give me thorough steps (including worst-case scenarios and what would best fit my situation)^^would people who have experience say that even with the above, some agents/lenders/PMs would still be sort of out to get your money and do a lousy job?

They hold their sale in four different locations, and have each locations sales listed separately online. 

You can often look online for the county/city zoning map, parcel info, and zoning laws.  

Most are online, at civicsource.com  and happen once a month.

He has no social media, no pictures, no videos, no online presence, nothing.

Hey Bigger Pockets community, I'm just starting out in Step 1 (get educated) on what I want to become a successful career in real estate investment.I also currently run an e-commerce business that is currently completely online, but would benefit from having a brick & mortar storefront, and I had an idea that maybe using the investment capital I'm looking to allocate into real estate into a commercial property my business can operate out of until I decide to sell the property in or rent it out to another business.I am obviously very naive when it comes to the complexity of any good real estate deal (especially commercial VS residential), but I'm hoping to spend as much time learning from everyone here who is on their journey as well.My main concern with the idea of buying commercial to operate my business out of it that I might struggle to rent it out afterwards and that there may likely be depreciation in the commercial real estate market over the next 5 years.I understand there is a lot of nuance depending on the local market but I'm guessing commercial is even less of a "safe" bet than finding a solid residential deal to leverage in some way.

Check county recordsUse online search tools like PropStream, Reonomy, PropertyShark, etc.Use local GIS mapping tools (ask your county)Search online directories for LLC or TrustTalk to neighborsHire a skip tracerSend a letter to the propertyThere are a lot of options.

TrueDoor appears to have a great reputation online, I'll be giving them a call.

My first MF I represented the buyer on I made 100k. for maybe a weeks worth of work. 3. if your going to be looking a more resi style duplex 4 plex a lot of those get listed and having access to the MLS is far superior to any other on line listing service ONE simply because you will be able to talk to the actual LIsting agent not someone paying for leads.And then of course having access to MLS lock box's and not relying on agents.. this is huge.Now if your maybe going to buy one property sometime in the future and you have no interest in learning the RE laws of your state or making any money with transactional real estate then sure.. its a pass.. although I would still recommend the pre license course so you learn the basics  the vocabulary and states unique laws.. knowledge is power in RE.