If you are looking to connect with other members near you, want to learn from people in a specific area you’d like to invest in, or have a desire to find people interested in certain topics, you could use the search feature here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/usersI really like the alerts feature that can quickly guide you to current topics that may be of interest: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

A lot of forum members are very knowledgeable in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate sales, wholesaling, flipping, rentals, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.If you are looking to connect with other members near you, or want to learn from people in a specific area you’d like to invest in, or have a desire to find people interested in certain topics, you could use the search feature here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users

I read Brandon Turner's book on Investing With No and Low Money Down, but he didn't cover this topic much.

If you decide to borrow money from friends or family make sure you create a contract outlining the terms and conditions.

Happy to help if you need financing or even just ideas on the topic.

@Jennifer Sui there are a ton of forum posts discussing this topic.

This is a great forum with very knowledgeable members that will help to guide you in the right direction.I really like the alerts feature that can quickly guide you to current topics that may be of interest: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsThere are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides

I would absolutely try and buy a house over a condo for reasons you already outlined.

This is a great forum with very knowledgeable members that will help to guide you in the right direction.If you are looking to connect with other members near you, or want to learn from people in a specific area you’d like to invest in, or have a desire to find people interested in certain topics, you could start your search here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users

Ideally the person would have real estate investments themselves so they have a personal stake in following the latest developments.I do have a couple I've worked with in RI and have been happy with so far, but it's hard to really know for sure how many of their other clients fit into the "more complicated investor/business owner" rather that "standard W-2 employee" category.One trick I've used with attorneys to find experts in a particular area is to find the attorneys that teach other attorneys about a particular topic, i.e., that lead attorney CLE (continuing legal education) classes in that topic.