I would stay away from advising your co-worker...sounds like he knows exactly what he is doing.

"Real Estate Commission Rebate Program"Pre-arranged and in place for pre-approved borrower/buyer clientsGood Faith Bid for a Purchase Price of: $500,000Listing Pays: 3%= $15,000 / Rebate to Buyer: $12,000Rebate to be credited at closing as follows: Closing Cost                         $ 8,000Home Warranty                  $ 500Attorney Representation  $ 700 New Flooring$New Window Treatments$New Windows$New A/C System $New Appliances                   $2,800Hurricane Generator$ Other: $_______________________________                                    $ 12,000 Rebate TO BUYER

The property itself that you are investing in generates a separate income from that generated by your cash. 

Please advise on how to obtain local lenders.

What I would advise you to do (since it’s a tourist area) is look at peak season vs. non-peak season rates and occupancy.

Maybe now is the time to really ramp that side of things up to generate commissions ? 

Be advised that establishing an institutional account for your LLC can take considerably longer than an individual account - Coinbase is running about 4-6 weeks for onboarding institutional accounts currently, as an example.The LLC may choose exchange provided storage, 3rd party cloud/desktop wallets, or hardware wallets. 

However, if you have 25% to put down with at lease 5% left over after closing in "reserves" and decent credit, you're in business, even without a job.If this is the case, do as I advise and open an LLC today.  

He/she will be able to advise you and walk you through the process. 

In that way, you have the ability to generate real estate returns that are tax-deferred or tax free depending on the account type that you use.