I have had success raising money and finding partners at my local REIA.Just like any other marketing strategy, you can't expect to go to 1 or 2 meetings and find these people, you have to be a regular and attend every meeting and talk about the deals you are working on or have worked on in the past.

How would the promoter be able to take these funds under a Regulation D placement if nobody would verify their accreditation status after the promoter publicly solicited to find the investor?

It also appears to be linked/promoted by Sean Terry's Flip2Freedom academy, but you can create an account and have an order fulfilled whether or not you are part of Sean's program.

He just got promoted to lt colonel.

Hey Greg, we live in Houston but my wife's family is in Abilene so we're there pretty regularly and have liked the houses we see there.

The thought occurred to me the other day to potentially start a fund, at my regular job, to invest in a property.

This article is a few months old now, but I thought many promoters on BP could benefit from reading it: Real estate crowdfunding: why it’s a big deal I haven't ever heard of iFunding until reading this article, but apparently the site specializes in providing financing for fix-and-flippers or smaller real estate operators.

What are the advantages (or disadvantages) of using the home equity line of my primary residence compare to trying to get a regular 30yfixed loan for the rental property?

Best bet is to have systems regularly tested

We still take an application fee and perform regular screening (credit/background/reference/employment checks) but our expectations are most will have little to no credit history.