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.

You can buy notes already performing, you can make up your own note, the note can be in senior or junior position, the note can be short term or long term, amortizing or interest only with a balloon payment, etc.  

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). 

Either way, congratulations on the purchase and for taking the risk in the first place but you need to get a safer more conventional property loan in my professional opinion to give you better chances in keeping this property especially if you have a long term rental income plan for it. 

Find a professional.