He also says 98% of all investors, including professional investors, are better off investing it in a broad-based passive index fund (the extreme diversification approach).https://www.youtube.com/watch?

A great way to start is to ask a few other RE professionals for recommendations.

Maybe hobby landlords but professional landlords do not collect rent.

I am looking to network and find professionals that could help me get started and can introduce me to their network.

I hope to not offend you by dropping the conversation to a more basic level than the other professionals who responded.

He also owns a large commercial building in which he runs his ballroom business for Weddings, Quinceanera's and so forth.  

I’m a property manager in upstate NY and I’ve started a series of interviews with local professionals in the real estate field and I could use some help.

We only have a house or two, we say.And just because we got away with not having a professional layout when we received a mortgage for our first rental or even second rental, we think it's okay just to present a mortgage company, bank or hard money lender, just some figures written down on a piece of paper or on an Excel Spread Sheet.But what happens when the time comes when you want to really expand?

My point is that STRs could be profitable enough to easily justify PM fees and therefore be a more passive RE investment option.Just another thing to consider.Just to complete the picture on the units we use a PM, our 3rd unit with a professional PM is OOS (Alabama). 

It was an easy process and I close the HELOC on Weds.