Start with the person who is hosting the REIA and ask them who the big players in the room are.  

The point is, I know the area well and I'm already 1 or 2 degrees away from the most valuable players in the game here. 

See the attached linkhttp://city.milwaukee.gov/AreaPlans/NearWest.htm#....Some of the local bigger players/companies  supporting the project are Harley Davidson, Miller Coors, Marquette HS, Marquette university, Aurora Health care and  West End Development Corporation.

You could also just google title companies nearby - often the same four or five major players will show up.

I am a graduate of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology as a Computer Engineer working from home as a NoSQL database developer although most of my career has been spent as an automation and systems engineer.I am a new player in the real estate game having started the marathon just 2 years ago when I attended a Guru real estate seminar.

So, for you seasoned players - does this sound realistic? 

I imagine the big players do not keep single residential units in their own LLC's, but that is just speculation on my part.Erik 

I know this because I run the Central WI REIA and most of the real players in the area are only making low all cash offers or using conventional financing.

The loans are assumable so even if you intend to sell the buyer could assume, much easier to modify the Agency loan versus a CMBS loan.The other players (outside of commercial banks) are life insurance companies.

I have some insight from a local property manager on what their complex is short on and I have comp sheets of all the major players for comparison but is there a better way to hone in the mix?