This was my first property, and while it's been a great learning experience, I made several mistakes along the way—ranging from choosing a realtor who was more focused on closing the deal than finding the right house, to having a poor inspection and overlooking issues hidden beneath the surface (literally).

Coming out of the 1031 I'll have about 620k to invest which means I am looking in the 1.5 to 2 million range if it matters.

This can range from local real estate clubs all the way up to multifamily specific events such as the National Multi Housing Council’s annual meeting.

So if affordability is the goal looking at wider range is something I would suggest. 

Owning properties through LLCs in their respective states avoids the need to register a foreign LLC, which adds costs and administrative requirements.If you plan to acquire properties across multiple states, you could create a parent LLC in Florida and have individual property-specific LLCs (child LLCs) in each state.

Yes, they are within a "normal" range.

In fact, he delivered returns “only” in the 11% ROI range.  

As a wholesaler, hopefully hearing from some of you with experience with these sites, what are the advantages or disadvantages of each of these sites respectively... as far as which search criteria to use on each platform?

I personally love the Cleveland market for its cash flow ranging from 10-18%.

I don't just hand over money unless I have a good respect for the person.