I would set appointments with local investor/agents who are tapping the market you want to serve (just look at closed multi-family listings and see who sold them), and keep doing that until you find a person who stands to mutually benefit from coaching/mentoring you and expect to pay them a split to work alongside them until you're prepared enough to go on your own. 

This list may be biased in some ways, since I live in STL and am extremely interested in starting to invest in my local market.

Sorry to hear about this and it's definitely important to watch out for Ponzi schemes.At the same time: many syndications require an investor to sign an NDA to protect their confidential techniques, sources, customer lists etc. from competitors who could damage them otherwise.

When I was a handyman for an apartment complex, every time there was a turn over, the bathroom was the first thing on the list.

The rehab had been completed (04/01/2023) and will be launched as a STR property by tomorrow (04/07/2023)Investment / Holding / Exit options being considered:1: Cash-out REFI upon 1 year loan maturity and substantial bookings.2: List for sale on NC MLS at $1,100,000 and see if there is interest in the property as an operational STR property.

I would also like to add Daly City and the sunset district to your list.

If you need help implementing the strategies listed in these books.

Looking through listings recently I've noticed that a lot of them don't have dressers, and if they do you can tell it's mostly decorative because they don't look very useful (short/shallow drawers, minimal space etc). 

Hard money, creative financing, or traditional financing should be viewed as different tools that you can use; try not to worry too much about finding one, singular way to finance every deal.For example, if you are buying an off-market deal from a family member, you may want to see if you can use traditional financing or creative financing since there's no competition and you'll get the most attractive/flexible terms.On the other hand, if you see a newly listed deal on the MLS, you may want to look at hard money since it can fund quickly like cash.Hard money loans are more expensive so you'll want to plan your exit before you get in whether that be refinancing into a long term note or selling the property.Hope this helps!

Some that are going to be safer.11th Property(Beaufort, SC)List Price: $311,000Purchase Price: $292,000Financing: Cash3br/2ba, 1700 sq ft house.