It all depends on what they are hoping to achieve.

Passive Activity Loss RulesIf you are a real estate investor that doesn’t qualify for REPS status (discussed in #5 below), understanding the Passive Activity Loss rules is crucial.

What does it have to do with real estate? 

@Joel RiveraRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

It really depends on how lendable you are without the 135k - job + savings + credit - if you want to parlay that money into more.

Depending on the amount of furniture you're trying to offload a consignment shop may be more hassle than it's worth.

We are definitely looking at the high appreciation rates hawaii has and the stable rise in real estate.  

Currently I'm listening to "ABCs of Real Estate Investing" and I've subscribed to the BiggerPockets podcast. 

Finding private money lenders out side of that takes time as you need to build your relationship with them so that they know, like and trust you AND they know you have experience in real estate.

It's going to depend on where you are purchasing.