No upfront deposit, no trust needed. 

I am wondering if my first steps (past the education part) is to build a network of people who know, like, and trust me through posting content like newsletters, articles, podcasts, doing webinars, going to events (aka build my brand), or, should I first find a deal and then raise capital?

As for building a team, that’s what I’m trying to do most at the moment, since I will definitely need people I trust in finding properties.

Would recommend working with a trusted broker instead. 

Example - 10-20 hours this year managing your local rental vs 30 hours this year learning about other markets and finding third parties you can trust.

You can't ask someone for money, but also not disclose things because you don't trust them.

absolutely... but be careful... be smart in what you invest in... trust me my friend https://www.biggerpockets.com/...take warning ... be smart... be vigilant

Replacing small items such as those can often times build trust and keep your tenants happy.

There is still plenty of room above how much the mortgage is.Honesty and trust are important and it seems you're not getting that.

I'd say forget the AI buzzword hype and go back to programming something useful based on real transaction-level data like below (that can help you with any deal you find, from whatever source you have).Sales Comps & ARV estimate:Market Stats:AI won't be able to provide you anything close to this, nor does the RedFin/Zillow market data drill down into the market as deep as I do here.Additionally, if you understand how the leading LLM's work based on a black-box floating point matrix, you just can't trust their conclusions like you can with your own program.