I use State Farm for my personal residence; it's bundled with my auto insurance.

We have zoom going on most of our in-person meetings.We are a nonprofit and focus on providing education for Real Estate investors.We have 10 or more meetings a month including the main meeting where we have a different speaker providing information on a RE topic.Check us out!

Be prepared to answer a lot of tough questions about the risks and the process in general.On the plus side, having to pay cash and be at the auction in person usually roots out the "know nothing" buyers that drive prices up.

You could try driving for dollars.In general, the easier you make this person's life, the more valuable you'll be to them.

Not necessarily but I felt as though I didn’t need to spend more time there personally.

Personally, we spent about a year and a half listening to podcasts, reading a bunch of REI books, and talking to experienced investors before we felt the time is right.

Should the landlord on the lease be our LLC or our personal names?

Build some marketing tools and start meeting people face-to-face, building relationships, and asking for referrals.

The person does pay her back and she did report the interest income. 

I personally want to use this strategy to lock in a lower interest rate on a rental property (being 20 years old with a small amount of credit history).