My strategy is to build my rental properties for a long term approach rather than any short term gains.I tend to get into the weeds of things, but I like to have a full understanding of everything and have a full thought out strategy.

Banks, particularly large institutions, will usually not budge if you approach them about a specific property.

Should my first approach be with a letter written by me or by a real estate attorney?

Most are off-market.If you are a retail property owner, how would you prefer someone approach you?

I love to hear that you're taking the independent approach to self-managing.

Best source for this question if you really want to be technical is your broker (but I could see why you wouldn't want to approach them) or an administrator of your association. 

Do you prefer a longer term approach with rental properties? 

@Derac ShafferYour approach is one way to get started!

$25K in NJ can be somewhat limiting and so you might want to consider an approach that doesn't require vast sums of cash to do deals. 

I’d love to partner with this guy if it makes sense and I’m passionate about real estate but don’t know what the best approach for us would be!?