They played an important role in my success (remember this is before we could find information and interact on line) because of the following benefits:1.

I wouldn't know where to go about finding other investors for a project like this even if I'm giving up equity.

Depending on the area you find a property might determine how long you live there.

@John Boutros The only think that comes to mind is private lenders or trying to find small, local banks and credit unions who are willing to lend.

The title company will find all outstanding debts.I would recommend you also using an attorney since you don’t understand some of the basics….

Obviously, based on my relationship with the company, I'm not unbiased, but most people here on BiggerPockets know that I value my reputation above all, and when I agreed to join FTF as an advisor a couple years ago, it was because I was very impressed not only with their business model and underwriting guidelines, but with the CEO (Matt Rodak) and the rest of the management team.I have no requirement to invest my own money on the FTF platform; I do that simply because I like the platform, like the deals that are being funded and find the returns to be nearly as good as the private lending I do, but without all the overhead. 

Hello all,I have 2 triplexes in Pittsburgh and would love to find a plumber that's familiar with installing water submeters and can recommend effective submetering products.  

I'd say the average person (maybe not investors on BiggerPockets) would get lost the moment you say, "You can find these loans yourself online...

If you shield your properties into LLC your personal Dept to income ratio will improve but the lender can still ask for PNL of the LLC or declaration to check if it cashflow positive.I would find a lender who is working with investors and would count all your streams of the income. 

Now you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them.