My goal is to establish valuable relationships with key players in the area, including agents, property managers, and contractors.

The opposite is true.Is it a good idea to hire a basketball coach so you can be a better player?

Most players in the industry have spent their entire careers dedicated to hotels/hospitality.  

@Suzanne Player I have talked to a mortgage broker who specifically works with investors, he told me to hold off until we can claim the money we make from our business.I own an Interior/Architectural Design company with my wife which we do well with, but we've only claim 1 year of income from it. 

You may have a skill-set that could be helpful in partnering with someone in either long or shorter term projects, or if you have some funds, you could go completely passive and be a limited partner on a larger deal and let those who have the time and skills manage the project actively.More important is starting to network with local investors and get to know your market, your players and find out who is doing a good volume of work in the area you might be interested in- (multi-family long term holds, fix and flips, etc).

But he was a Hoarder and a player. 

A couple of ways to find these guys: * RE Agents - If they are a seasoned agent they usually know a few players in the area * Mortgage Brokers - Same * Hard money lenders - Same * Local REIA * BP - look at member's profile pagesI hope that helps!

The main players in this space are Guidance Residential and UIF, but it turns out that they may just be purchasing a Freddie/Fannie loan on the back end to finance the deal and then structure it differently for the buyer - which isn't in accordance with their religious rules. 

I would say on premium triple net properties it is doubtful.Too many other players ready to put skin in the game.They don't have to deal with tenants,toilets,and termites and get a 6 to 8 percent annual return.You might be able to structure something with a non-corporate tenant but that carries a bunch of more risk.You can get into these properties with less skin as lenders that do credit tenant loans will go 90% LTV.So you could in theory structure these no money down but again there are big companies gobbling up triple net with hoards of cash.If you are assuming a loan the lenders feel much more comfortable with a big corp with tons of backing,cash,and a track record for performing.The other benefit is that with the big company as the buyer the lender will let the personal guarantee go on the loan assumption.If you are just Joe Blow wanting to assume it they might let you with a personal guarantee still attached to the seller.This has just been my experience and there are always exceptions to the rule.

@Joe Gore   your asset manager buddy probably has assets that the bigger players are not interested in.