I can just imagine the sharks starting to circle now that they smell the blood of fresh meat in the water. 

I have no doubt that knowledge helps us navigate the ambiguous waters of multifamily investing :) Let us know how you get on. 

After all, it is your business - not theirs.So, start your pursuit of relevant knowledge by Googling:  NRS 86 (Nevada's LLC law), the California Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, and the California Franchise Tax Board (navigating the sites you select to find the requirements of the law on how LLCs are treated, taxed, and charged fees for earnings and 'doing business' within and outside of the state of their formation and operation).  

You are simply in the shark tank at that point, blood is in the water.

I am looking for a mentor or someone who I could partner with on the deal.Can anyone point me in the right direction of anyone (whether mentor, attorney, broker, investor, etc) in the NY market that might be worth chatting with to navigate this deal and possibly partner with??

If you have never done this before you may want to hire an architect who has done this before to help you navigate it and keep the contractor honest.

Not to be combative, I have the greatest respect for everybody in this thread, but I'd like to suggest the impetus for switching labels (Hard money to private money) is coming from two of the biggest hard money organizations in the country:I don't think that is combative at all David, in fact, it appears to go along with my agreement with others in that many hard money lenders are using the term private money for a number of reasons, one of which is the negative (and incorrect) reputation that hard money lenders are sharks and crooks.

Otherwise, definitely upload a personal profile pic so we can better identify you as you navigate the site.Welcome to BiggerPockets!

I've tried using the cities public record website, but navigating it is absolutely horrible.James D.

The hope for this is that in the discussions we will not have any argumentative back and forth, but a discussion for the newer investor to listen to because the more experienced investors will share with the "pitfalls" they have found and how they changed the strategy to make the pitfall just a small hole or dip in the road that was easily manuvered around or absorbed.This hopefully will lead everyone into navigating those pitfalls for a good investment life no matter which one or combination someone would choose.When someone does post their way of doing things, it should be looked at for the pitfalls and those be brought out and discussed, not to upset the poster or to say this is better, but for a discussion of what pitfalls each strategy has and how to avoid them.And within each strategy how it should be changed according to the economic times.