The scenario I'm looking at is a buy-and-hold strategy (100% cash) that would generate a moderate amount of income (with no other sources of income).

I will ALWAYS welcome any and all advice and hope to be humbled someday in the future by being able to pay it forward to the next generation of upstarts.

Interestingly enough, Lawyers and CPA's are great sources of leads as well..

The properties are paid off and generating stable income.

As new to the US real estate (i am a foreigner) I want to start with multifamily (ideally apartment buildings) already rented and in OK condition to generate immediate cash flow without having to incur large expenses in the first year(s).I am looking in PA (as I have some connections in RE there) or FL (nice weather).

It wouldn't hurt to provide a handful of leads and see how they do with them though.

Negotiate a full release based on the asset having lead paint, asbestos, etc. that you are almost certainly going to find in a pre-1980's vintage house.Remember: "What's good is bad, and what's bad is good."

If they are all over the place o elusive or non-committal I do not spend 10 seconds with them.If you are shadowing a top producer they should be giving you tools and processes they use to generate business and close deals related to your niche.

Coming in unknown, announcing that you are "revolutionizing" the industry, and asking a thinly disguised leading "question" so you can promote your business is an obvious ploy most experienced members see through.If you do have knowledge of the hard money lending industry, taking your time to answer questions, providing unbiased information and sharing your knowledge will go a much longer way to promoting your company than your current "non" participation.

My current lead criteria is as follows:Absentee Owned (in & out of state)Equity > 50%No TrustNo CorpOwnership > 7 years