I was just using a standard 30 year conventional mortgage to analyze the expenses but would like to find a way to analyze it with hard money.

I would also like to attend local meet-up's and link up with realtors and investors along the way. 

Sacramento has a solid investor community, if you're interested in networking there's a number of REIA meet ups in the area and also a handful of BP meet ups from time to time.  

Check out the nearby members and network https://www.biggerpockets.com/meet, it will help you a lot to find partners that can help you out in investing.

Check out the nearby members and network https://www.biggerpockets.com/meet, to find partners that can help you out in investing.

There's plenty of good opportunities around the 'Burgh.Come visit the local REIA - a good place to meet people & learn more.You don't need to wait until you graduate.

One thing you can try is biggerpockets.com/meet to see who's in your area on BP and take a look at profiles of realtors who are on here and in your area and reach out to the ones that interest you.

Check out this page for investors you can network with https://www.biggerpockets.com/meet, you may just find a potential mentor through it.

I currently own a few rentals in different states, but since getting my real estate license i have started looking at family and friends for prospecting new deals as a new agent.I have a family member who has been renting houses for as long as i can remember between her and her boyfriend, but they both have some bad credit due to falling behind a few years back after both losing their jobs and juggling life for a while tell they found new jobs.I am a bit unsure about this idea still due to the fact that i have been running numbers on multi-family homes to purchase in the near future and turn into rentals, but i want to help them if it's a viable idea...I wanted to get your opinion on maybe purchasing a house based on their needs and running a lease option on the house for them to purchase down the road when they have the credit again....Right now they are renting a 3/1/1 for $1200/month and there is a lot of 3bed houses around them that are in the 100k and below that would meet the needs of them, im just worried about buying the house for them tieing up my own money and not have enough financing available to continue purchasing investment properties as my rental income from all my current rentals is my only income coming in right now as i start the career of an agent.

There are some great groups that meet every month here that are a wealth of knowledge.