.), you can legally pay a referral fee on a commercial mortgage loan, as long as the referring source does nothing more than call you with a name and phone number of a prospective borrower.However, if the referral source — say, a commercial real estate broker — starts to negotiate terms (rate, points, term, etc.), then he is working as a commercial mortgage broker.

Hi everyone, a close friend and I are partnering up to get into real estate investing.

The real work does come in with driving around like you mentioned, maybe being creative and showing properties they may not have thought of, and articulating different ways to offer on a property, just to name a few items.

You could house hack a few Cleveland multifamily properties, then make your way to Columbus, which is one of the top real estate markets in the country. 

What impediments exist that keep women from enjoying real estate and financial freedom?

I found the deal through a family friend who is a real estate agent.

Appreciate it,  looking for good contacts and maybe even relationship or two in the real estate world. 

A local lawyer, Tim Priebe, is a great source of information.

Keep doing what you are doing and in 10-15 years (your retirement timeline) you'll have a ton of equity built up to turn into whatever cash flowing investment you want at that time (real estate or otherwise). 

I started in Real Estate investing in 2013 when my daughter went to college ( first investment was student rental), i still own that house and several others in the town, not all student rentals. i look at this as my retirement in the near future and my kids inheritance should i ever pass.