I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and to me Newark seems to be undergoing a similar change as Brooklyn, I would strongly recommend (based on the little knowledge that I have) that if you have the means, to try to invest there.  

It used to be my home country where I was born.

My name is Julian Sibley, I came across the BiggerPockets community through a friend who recommended the podcast.I work as a mortgage lender in the Everett, WA area and I am a recent college graduate.I was born and raised in a dairy family in Snohomish, WA which is what I attribute my work ethic to as well as my love for the outdoors.

But being born and raised here this property is 3 blocks from the ocean, across the street from a new Harris teeter grocery store, 3 marinas and the neighborhood through the woods has 500k+ homes.

I know because it's where I was born and raised.

I sat with my Dad who retired from Paine Webber( vice president of stock and commodities side ) like you he was doing stocks and real estate before myself and most of the BP crowd( was born).

I was born and raised in these types of areas that many investors are uncomfortable investing in and many investors will tell other investors not to invest in because they will fail.

I was born and grew up in South Miami area and very familiar with the market.

When speaking with potential lenders, you are going to want to highlight your credibility as well as present any potential deal to them in a professional manner, check out the post I wrote to another aspiring investor regarding lender packets: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/496900-presenting-a-deal-to-a-potential-investor-partnerIn my experience lenders don't advertise that they are lenders, they are usually born from networking and connections you have made by going to events, working with other investors etc. 

Yet starting in early 2018, as my firstborn son was soon to be born, I began listening to multiple podcasts on real estate investing as well as consuming book after book on the subject.