So I easily fell into their influence and trusted them without any basis2) When they presented this tear-down-rehab deal, that was too good to be true, I did not do due diligence.

Market prices are influenced by other factors too.

How To Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie - the BEST book on getting along and influencing others.

D4D, bandit signs, sphere of influence/word of mouth, lead listings, etc?

@Anthony Bibbins "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie and "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.

If I might throw on my optimism hat though, once they fully move all of the SEAL teams down to the new Naval Coastal Campus from Coronado, the government's attention to the issue *ought* to be higher than ever considering that these guys are out in the water a lot and when you have a state-of-the-art training facility for our elite forces being influenced by polluted water, this becomes a national security issue.  

I have had a few interesting conversations with 2-3 people in my circle of influence that want to participate in REI, specifically my recent success, but they are both gun-shy in committing to any specific "complex" real estate deal, and have sub-$5,000 amounts they are wanting to commit.Without getting too much into the minutia of their mindsets and arguments, it is important to note that they are willing to give a much smaller amount of money for advertising and, in return, are expecting a faster, albeit, higher risk return through wholesale deals obtained during that time frame.My actual question for you is: have you ever structured any kind of private funding "deal" that officially goes towards your marketing in exchange for a piece of the net profits for (insert time period)?

Rob, calling other people's work/offer's to help crap isn't the best way to make friends and influence them.

Call it influence or persuasion or even negotiations. 

As a small operator I will no longer do TI without a client direct influence.