That would not be a taxable event. 

A month ago there was a very tramatic event in their family where they asked if they could get out of the lease. 

The education, networking, coaches, events, podcasts, masterminds, etc is exactly what I needed.

If you live in KC, look in the Event section here for meetups near you and use sites like Meetup dot com to look for real estate investor meetups.

A great way to start is by attending RE events and joining a local investors association.

I even reached out to hosts on Airbnb, and one said to call the city planner to get my STR permit. 

Go to meet ups in the area, find out all active investors in that market, talk to brokers in the market who have clients looking for capital, attend events that you can network, and look into joining the various communities in real estateGino

And guess what, were not even doing that militarily anymore, nope not event there.

Or in my day a Zig Zeigler event ( I loved that guy) or Robert Schuler would have some top speakers at his events as well.  

Attend networking events, and join online forums and local real estate clubs to nurture these relationships and expand your network.