Me and my buyer go running down the front porch stairs literally tripping over one-another as the water heater goes flying out the front door in-between us, breaks through the wood fence, and lands on the sidewalk. 

And a big part of that question is, "is this person really a cash buyer, or are they just saying they are".It is a bit of a chicken-and-egg, catch-22 type challenge - how can you get lenders to be willing to invest money with you when you have no experience, but how can you get experience without funding deals.You can try to find lenders who only focus on the deal and not the borrower (as @Sam Albert said), but be aware that many of those are going to want a substantial down payment.The other popular option, if it's available to you, is "friends and family" to help you out with your first deals, as they already know your general character and may take a chance with you on your first properties.Also remember that if you familiarize yourself with self-directed IRAs (plenty of resources here on BP and elsewhere - RIRIEG just had a weekend workshop on it a couple of weeks ago), you may find that friends and family you thought didn't have any money to invest actually do.Good luck and let us know as you have specific questions along the way of course :)

Many rules apply here and it is easy to get tripped up, so be sure you hire an attorney to draft your papers who understands syndications.You will need a lawyer to paper the deal with investors in either case.  

It has worked great and gives us a reason to take more weekend trips! 

I didn't feel stupid at any time and it is actually someone I wouldn't mind going on a fishing trip with or come hang out at the family BBQs.  

if you have a property in texas and an llc in texas and a property mgmt company in texas and you take a trip or 2 per year there.. it seems you can make the argument that you arent DOING any business in CA.    

I recently joined a couple REI groups, just went on a bus trip with about 20 others where we walked 3 properties and our coach walked us through estimating rehab work, do's and don'ts etc.  

I booked a 2 week trip to Asia to see family and relax.

Some of our requirements are:Income needs to be at least 3 times rent - Verify by calling employerNo evictions in past 3 yearsNo pedophilesVerify current living statusAlso do some social media trolling, we have had several times they meet the criteria above but it comes down to a character judgement call.  

Example: I went to California on a business trip.