The big players quickly work themselves into alternative investments that are still RE but not the same things that everyone gets gooey eyed over.  

I think women are reaching a critical mass as players in REI and we are here to stay!

Games are won by players who focus on the playing field -- not by those whose eyes are glued to the scoreboard.

I know in Japan they're very closed off to foreigners at times, but my fiance is Japanese which may be quite beneficial in this case.

Several big players bought up large parcels of land in California in 2010.

Most licensing laws are only in existence because big players in an industry get together and bribe  lobby their politicians to help suppress their competition through the use of the government's monopoly on force.

Years later, after Helmsley's death the ground lease was acquired by a reclusive Japanese investor, in the name of his daughter.

I'd recommend networking with the the "big players" in the commercial market out there

I don't really know who are the players in Bellingham, if any big ones.

@Joe Prillaman, once you start searching for your first deal, there will be first surprise to you:  it is a hard, full time job, where you complete with big players with tons of resources and people working for them.