Here are the companies I have connected with and done a fair amount of due diligence on:REI Nation: I'd consider these guys to be a step up from something like Fundrise.

I will say that my second job is working at a huge national nonprofit very similar to catholic charities.

Have you asked to see a passport, work visa, citizenship papers, social security/tin number ,etc or are you assuming they are illegal because of perceived nationality ,accent, name, or some other prejudices.

Ok, so I closed with a big, national hard money lender and did full title search with a very reputable company in Tampa I've done 100s of transactions with. 

I'm only licensed in California but like you said many national wholesale lenders as well as hard money lenders will allow you to originate under their license.  

Wondering what consensus is among investors here regarding various online tools and resources for market research, both local and national?

Are they a National brand like Lamar? 

I'm able to get a much better rate (at least 0.5% lower than if I went to a national bank) from the broker but the broker has a Gmail address. 

(From old National Enquirer TV Ad). 

And over 200,000 people every day commute in Baltimore from Washington, DC and Virginia.Baltimore ranks #18 in the top 25 rental markets in the entire nation.