But many real deal people like Mark Ferguson probably never go to REI club meetings so you maybe have to research your market and reach out to meet the real players in Longmont.  

You could come and meet the players in the market. 

This bodes very well for the mountain resorts.- Vacation home sales have doubled in the past two years..

Many go to work every day taking care of their clients and doing the best job they can.A good real estate agent is similar in nature to a conductor of a symphony, coordinating the different players to make a successful transaction a reality.

I posted a lot of questions on the forums and met some key players that way.  

@Bryan C. is right about the TSP option but I would caution you to use this as a last resort until you get a bit more money invested in it. 

They have zero knowledge the local players, city officials, etc that all have a massive impact on any RE business.

Harder means less people will go for it.It's too small for most of the big players.

I suspect in RE investing and wholesaling ( well I know) 10 to 15% of those that try make 90% of the deals.Ever talk to a wholesaler that's an absolute idiot,, does not know what they are doing could care less about you or the seller  ( for sure it happens every day)Agents are no different.. this is a great industry and for those that can rise above and be professional in their work  do not get emotional about the deals they can and do do very well.For all those Investors out there that are small time players IE your buying a hand full or less of sub 100k homes and are ragging on agents well your just as clueless as those you call idiots.. your not really worth a lot to an agent and an agent only has time to sell so when I hear those say they fired 5 brokers and 4 fired them I say they need to look in the mirror  easy to rag on the agent what about the crappy buyer  LOL...

I assume both players have access to favorable debt, but if someone can purchase at a 5 cap, and finance the majority of the purchase with long term debt between 3-4%, the equity yields are actually reasonable and should grow (even modestly) over time.I am not sure if this answers the question, but I think what both groups are doing probably makes a ton of sense in satisfying the goals of their investors.