Most of the successful players spend $10,000 + per month on marketing, SEO, SEM, website development, influencers, etc.Another issue, depending on your state, is licensing.

Real estate law is a big game and there is not a lot out there for small players (if you're not buying $5million in RE annually or syndicating)...I personally use lawyers to structure complicated deals I can't figure out, to provide a letter of intent, draft contracts, and close deals.I found a 40-yr RE lawyer who drafts a note/mortgage for $250...worth his weight in gold....I would caution going with a lawyer that does not own investment property or work exclusively in RE.Best of luck! 

Both team players, and business owners.

Also, as you are seeing more and more crowd funding players, investors are getting used to seeing the deal rather than investing in a fund. 

The fed keeps bailing out weaker players.

As for non performing residential notes, well thats where most of the note players on BP play.  

Outside of a few players, I see a lot of banks not interested in projects above 2M.

I have JV'd on a couple of NPNs and the returns honestly are not that much better since they are trying to get 20%-30% returns and the margins are getting squeezed with all of the new players trying to get in the market...just like flipping. 

I have an issue with making blanket statements like something doesn't work or is a bad idea when every major player in the country is using it consistently to purchase deals. 

I was really skeptical then and now that, that time period is over you see who the REAL PLAYERS are in the game.