Fast forward to 2019, still in the corporate world however, I have started appraising now and was approached by a friend of mine to work together and purchase some real estate. 

Of the last 3 we bought 2 of them we found from approaching the owners directly, we saved ourselves allot of money by going directly to the title company and cutting out the realtor. 

Of course, this is the leveraged approach as I have a higher risk profile.

That may be a good approach for me. 

Although it really depends on the market, 2% is more likely in the worse neighborhoods, and while those properties would seem to cash flow well, they are also higher risk and take a much more hands on approach.  2% in a nice neighborhood would be less common and probably not on the market long unless there were extenuating circumstances.Of course each city is different.

The former president is going around aggressively approaching other members who were at the meeting and complaining.

That helps shape my approach.

That's a valid strategy, but as others have mentioned, you'll want to have some experience and the proper credentials before approaching property owners.

If the tenants are actively violating any terms of their current leases or agreements, that's a valid approach to managing the tenant and potentially replacing the tenant.

If you were going to start over again had no starting capital but already had a real estate license what approach would you take?