.. maybe you can offer to mentor him like others suggested .. have him work as a assistant to your project manager for a flip or two .. give him assignments like writing up a budget ( not that you have to use it ) but see what he comes up with .. have him there when contractors submit their estimates .. maybe he cant be there everyday because of his job but if he really wants to learn and succeed , he will find a way .. and he would be a fool not to accept your help .. thats the best you can do as a friend.. maybe tell him once he learns enough that you feel confident that ge can run his own flip ..then you will partner with him on a few .. then after that you will fund him at a lower cost than hard money would be .. explain to him your worried about his family and the decision he is considering to make.. maybe he wants you to offer to help him learn but doesn't know how to ask ..I had a complete stranger offer to mentor me in the begining .. just because he saw potential and he has done very well the ladt 35 yrs in real estate and wanted to give back ..

There are many agencies out there that will give you a place to do your 2 years of mentoring before you can go out on your own.  

I'm also apart of an investing/mentoring group called, Think Multifamily; it's ran by Mark Kenney and @Tamiel Kenney in Dallas. 

My mentors are Jay Morrison, Rico Smith and Beyond Wynn. 

However, I have spent a LOT of time researching REI on BP and several other resources, and have several family members and friends that have served as mentors to me.

Find that person or company in your area,  ask for mentoring, work for them, refer properties and opportunities - learn what they do and find a way to do it for yourself.

Can anyone share their experience with Dave Lindahl's REMentor Mentorship program?

@Andrew SchmittIf that's the model you're going after, you need to find a mentor who's been able to pull that off and learn EVERYTHING about the business model from them.And then, come here and see if others can poke holes in it.

Just to provide some background, he was wanting to know how and where to begin, and is looking at potentially doing clerical work for a local agency in his town to learn what he can from what will hopefully be a mentor-like figure."

Not looking for a mentor, just looking for other newbies who have recently taken the plunge.