I should say now I had mentioned to him months ago during a football game one night that i was working on my first real estate deal, and he took interest in it offering advice and things for me to think about.

It could be a game changer for sure ! 

Now that I've essentially achieved my goals, I'm ready to get back into the real estate game as I sell my current home and pull out my equity which would give me plenty to throw down a few down payments.  

If you are looking for pre foreclosure properties, that is a different ball game.  

Just put simply, all cash means no contingencies and in NYC that's the way the game is played.

But even a hard money lender is likely going to require you to have some skin in the game. 

Real  estate is a long term game to build passive income.Skinning a few hundred bucks a door means a lot of properties.

P.s I have a couple of good friends that wholesale and I have done some myself so I know title issues are part of the game and a good title company is a blessing and earn their pay on fixing title problems.Thank 

Does anyone have any tips, techniques or experiences they would like to share on how a new real estate investor that is trying to get in the game should go about obtaining and mentor and establishing a team

You need to know the rules of the game before you can play, much less be a star. :)