Now that I've essentially achieved my goals, I'm ready to get back into the real estate game as I sell my current home and pull out my equity which would give me plenty to throw down a few down payments.  

If you are looking for pre foreclosure properties, that is a different ball game.  

Just put simply, all cash means no contingencies and in NYC that's the way the game is played.

But even a hard money lender is likely going to require you to have some skin in the game. 

You can check out cozy.co for a good platform.

Real  estate is a long term game to build passive income.Skinning a few hundred bucks a door means a lot of properties.

One more thing:From time to time, on BP,  I've come across people who use this wonderful platform to put people down.

Does anyone have any tips, techniques or experiences they would like to share on how a new real estate investor that is trying to get in the game should go about obtaining and mentor and establishing a team

You need to know the rules of the game before you can play, much less be a star. :)  

Think about what the end game looks like and work backwards to see what you need to have in terms of deal flow, cash, management etc.