The used car dealer pulled a fast one on me when he sold me a lemon.The realtor pulled a fast one on me when he told me that I was buying a house in C Neighborhood when it was really a D Neighborhood.

I am not looking to do it online- any resources out there that can educate me on how to do it myself or perhaps a "human" who can do it for a "reasonable / cheap" fee?

The sign company I worked for (Watchfire) essentially had "dealer" relationships and would only sell parts to Watchfire approved "Sign Companies".

I know that sounds very ignorant, but it is human nature.

Do you want to be a big wheeler-dealer real estate mogul or a small investor/ landlord? 

., any legal entity (whether a human being or a corporation or a trust) may own property in an state whether you are a resident of that state or not.

I have a full time W2 income (not related to real estate) and do my investing part-time.I have been reading online, and there seems to be a chance that IRS can label us as a "dealer" if we flip a few properties in a year, and then we can be subject to the 15% self employment tax.

You need to look into the private equity or exempt market dealers. 

Big banks (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, etc.) are less likely to treat you like a human and more likely to treat you as a commodity, but yes they can help you.Credit unions will take an eternity and a half to get you started, but yes they can help you. 

I've bought some nice subway tile from the Habitat for Humanity Restore.