I would focus on finding a market and begin by finding a realtor/broker or a reputable GC.  9 times out of 10 they know or have worked with other people in the industry.  

Can anyone direct me to either manufacturers in the Virginia area, or an industry association where I could located manufacturers/dealers?

For longterm rentals, some things to know are, how to calculate affordability of an area (a function of median income, interest rate, median home price), look at migration patterns (are people moving into or out of an area, what are the trends), business climate (are businesses moving to the area or out, what type of industries, income level, etc), rental amounts,  that's all I can think of at the moment.I wish I would've known more about evaluating markets when I bought my first few properties. 2 of the first rentals I bought, went absolutely no where when I finally sold them about 17 years after I bought them.

Because of this treatment in the CARES act, the multifamily industry weathered the worst of the pandemic.History tells us that during recessions, multifamily housing production contracts moderately, rent declines are short lived, and vacancies only increase briefly and by modest amounts.

I'm happy to make a new industry friend!  

In my quest to obtain and read more books regarding Industrial/Warehouse investments, I came acrossThis book did an excellent job of giving a perspective of both the tenant and landlord when it comes to selecting or developing warehouse space.Check it out!

Or maybe I am looking at this incorrectly and 5% upfront is very much in line with industry?

In that vein I am also interested in being a loan officer and working in the mortgage industry.

I usually ask my clients to connect me with their prior Loan Officer or someone they worked with at their prior bank to get the form expedited because sending it to corporate to complete can take days...especially with the recent turn times in our industry with servicers.

The huge government and university job base helps prevent the slides down while the tech, medical, and other industries provide the ride up.