Go where people with money would go and go to start friendships, not to solicit money.

Find friends who want to be lawyers, CPAs, plumbers, HVAC technicians,  etc.... key word is NETWORK and focus on building friendships now, so that way you can have friends to answer questions!

My meet up has been successful and here are a few great outcomes we’ve had: Multiple people closed their first deal once they started attendingSeveral people purchased apartment communities since joiningPhenomenal relationships and friendships have been formedAttendees have a support network to share ideas and help each other close more dealsConnected hundreds of like-minded individualsMany people invested in opportunities or partnered on deals through relationships built from the meetingWhat successful outcomes have others had from having a local meet up? 

I just figured if I could kill two birds with one stone, maybe I could come up with a win-win, but I'm not going to risk a friendship over it and it's really not important to me to buy the house.

The friendship should be over with either decision your make, but for sure make the decision to have the unit vacant before you close if you do buy it.

It sounds like you have more of a business relationship than say a friendship at this point and he approached you with a "proposition" so he certainly views it that way. 

I know house hacking is a whole other story, but it is still risky getting payment and maintaining a stable cashflow, all the while trying not to destroy friendships over something as trivial as rent.If it were me, I'd look into doing a 30 year, dropping the rent, and looking into ways to convert it into a duplex or triplex while your house hacking - if you're set on this house.

Join 2 or 3 real estate investor associations in your area, meet investors and develop relationships, friendships and contacts.

So we thought that while we do that, we should network with other fellow investors because there so much experience and potential friendships out there!

It’s a fine like to walk between professionalism (since your running your duplex like a business) and friendship.