I would like to connect with more like minded individuals who are willing to build great relationships and net worth.

I think he has stated before that them not accurately portraying the reality of it is why he decided not to continue with the project.I know another individual who was on a flipping show, and there were a lot of things in that episode that were not a reflection of reality as I knew those involved, and I knew the subject property.

Would be a nice way to meet up with some like-minded individuals in the area.

Similar to you I don't need a money partner, so I'm not sure how it would benefit me to enter a partnership with a contractor. 

That sounds like you are thinking about the kind of return you should be getting in your head.I am entering a lot of data into a database from FCI.

is it used regularly and is a safe way to enter a partnership with another investor?

Karen, I won't be attending but I can recommend a tip that could save you thousands of dollars: Leave your credit cards at home.Most of the free / low cost seminars give you a few crumbs of information but are mainly sales presentations designed to "upsell" you on more expensive "boot camps" and/or "mentoring programs".They all follow the same classic sales formula, they'll tell you that it normally costs $X (you can even go on their website and see that price) but "today only" or "only for the first N people to sign up" they're putting on a special deal.They'll do the whole "this is how much it would cost individually but here's an incredible package deal" etc.

I'm trying to decide whether to invest as an individual, through my personal checking account, or through my small business.

I was thinking of putting it in an index fund but that would be more for a 5-10 year timeline. another option would be individual stocks but there is a lot of risk involved in that.Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you.

I agree to what the other posts here had to say....just one point, I find that I  don't put such a focus on 3 times the rent, simply because it's  not a one size fits all, a single person has much much less expenses than a married couple with 3 kids.........I look at each situation individually