They invite professionals - officials (attorney general), to speak on topics relevant to the business.There are seasoned, experienced landlords that gladly give free advice and pointers.They have full time lobbyists to fight against the pervasive ‘tenants rights’ groups we continually have to battle.I attribute much of my success as a landlord to my involvement with a great association.

@James Camp I've used hard money for the purchase and rehab of all my BRRRRs but 2 (and I regretted using cash on 1 of those because it took me 6 months to refi out due to seasoning requirements).

Learning from these more seasoned investors will help you jump start your investing much faster than just trying to start completely by yourself. 

The someone  probably needs to be a seasoned investor.

I had the idea to make an agreement with Bob to purchase the home from him for $1.8M with the contingency to help him go through his things and put them in storage within a month or other agreed upon set timeframe.

I think there is a seasoning period on that though (2 years maybe), so that may not solve your immediate problem. 

Do you know what time of year is the slow season?

Rates/fees will generally be higher than conventional financing.Thanks Dan, is there a seasoning period? 

As tax season is right around the corner, is it better to wait until after I file? 

We kept most of our stuff in a local storage unit.