I would go with familiarity and ability to build relationships organically over pure numbers for a market.

I've organized a few meetups and I'm not opposed to partnering with other folks, I'd love to do that.

Then maybe try a house hack and build your skills with management and small (emphasis on small) repairs.

What skills, experience, and value can you offer to a prospective mentor? 

I been trying to get in, possibly working for someone that's already doing this so i can learn the ropes maybe as an assistant or organizer or data entry anything. 

You  will  need the help of an attorney and account the question to ask  to be able to do the creative structuring  of your partnership  with a plan of action  a organized  plan of action and  aware  of the pitfalls  and opportunities  just doing this with family will not  be enough  you will need  professionals who know the laws  of syndication

Your value may be seen as unfair and protested.Have/Find local and experienced Team members that you feel like they can help you and possibly have enough trustworthiness and skill that someday will not need your supervision.  

Does anyone have any unique skills they can share with me that can lead me to my first deal? 

Act quickly, but use your skills and experience to determine if this is a good deal for you after you inspect the properties.  

We pretty much receive all our paperwork digitally so it makes it easy, What you could do is create an organized digital filing system for all your documents.