I know the topic that I'm inquiring about has probably been addressed and/or beaten with a dead horse but I'm really not trying to allow my fear of the unknown to stop me from jumping in and taking action like I did 1...

I told myself I would never let an attorney have the upper hand and set forth to become an expert in any endeavor that was my principal game.

I don't play the appreciation game. 

Please come by to a meetup if you can, I'm sure a lot of investors would like to pick your brain on how you got this far and you can pick other peoples brains on where you would like to go on your next steps in the real estate game.

Hi guys, my name is Alain,Complete newbie to REI, but am currently reading 1 book a week to catch up with the game!

My firm, Brown Harris Stevens, has relationships with our affiliates of thousands of brokerages throughout the Continental US and the world- I'd be happy to make introductions for you, if you like.I hope this helps.Best,Barry

In each case, the money appears to originate in banks with high foreign affiliation (I don't know how else to say this). 

@Nick Belsky great point, also some syndicators have more "skin" in the game because they believe in the investment that much

Encourage each other and assure one another that you are in it for the long game, not so that you can brag to your friends that you are investors.

Get the marketing going, get some experience on the FIND side of the game.