Our contract that we are negotiating now is with a large local company.

Meet ups are a great way to connect with local investors.

Dear members of the community,I am reaching out seeking advice from local agents in the LA area (or in general) regarding a real estate venture I am currently negotiating.

Others will use the local gas station bathroom and shower at the gym.

Here's a snippet from our starter course on becoming a Local Real Estate Developer and it will help you understand where the value comes into a development project to see how to weight the equity and deal terms based on the experience of the partners in the deal. 

You can also pop in to one of our local REIA groups to network with other investors.

Hey Rachel, One side note is that Landlord's choice varies a lot but I'd take a look at local listings that do have a professional property manager and review their screening criteria.

The latter will have higher interest rates whereas the former has a 2% interest at my local credit union. 

Some salesmanship  / entrepreneurship classes at your local community college may prove helpful.My $0.02 ...

I don't believe there is a common practice, its going to be dependent on local standards.