But why not focus on what you bring to the table?

I'm currently interested in East Bay (Alameda & Contra Costa) as well as Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Merced, Solano and Sacramento counties.As an absolute beginner (this is my very first post) and currently working a full-time job (unrelated to RE), my main objective is to learn different REI skills hands-on.What I bring to the table:1) Funds - possibly for 10% to 25% of down payment (widely depending on deal/rehab costs, of course)2) Hustle - evenings and weekends could be 100% dedicated to REI (finding/analyzing deals, meetups, cold calling, drafting/reviewing, whatever I can help with)I would love to learn at least one of these skills:1) Finding off-market deals2) Estimating rehab costs3) Managing contractors4) Managing tenants5) Negotiating dealsI'm hoping someday I'd be able to add value beyond funds and be part of a great REI team :)If you're interested in connecting, please let me know.Best,JC

That being said, I have around 50k USD saved up ready to go - so I want to know if it's even possible to use that and get $1k+/month cashflow on the table.

In Minneapolis there are certainly some good deals, that is all dependent on the advantages you bring to the table, (management experience, construction exp, cash, etc).   

What was the value that the smaller players brought to the table? 

Is there specific topics for each meeting, or just a round-table open discussion?

But, I would absolutely pair with a family member that is trustworthy and can bring some value to the table. 

Previous owner made some updates but left some pretty big jobs on the table.

A couple weeks ago I asked if the owner would be open to seller financing, and she said “we have tons of cash offers on the table right now, so no.”Here we are a month later and it’s still on the market, so I’m sure that was a lie. 

Usually it will be bonus depreciation or S179 to expense the furniture and other personal property (STRs commonly throw off high taxable income compared to tax loss thus S179 finds its way onto the table -- S179 might be preferable to bonus).Cost seg still might be beneficial depending on the acquisition price.Make sure you have a deep convo with your CPA regarding STRs (hint: they usually have an average rental period of less than 7 days).