I practice real estate in Bakersfield and most of my clients are investors. 

first you have to decide what you want to do in the note business.. what most of the responses are talking about is buying bad debt.. and 2nds at that which this is the most risky and the most work..if your looking for work and risk and job then that kind of note investing is for you.If your looking for Passive income with no work and Limited risk then you simply need to align with a great HML who takes on private clients or those that understand where performing notes are generated.. we have done over 1700 performing notes for clients that last 5 years and really don't advertise at all. simply because once you get conservative investors in your program it just feeds itself.. deal flow is the key right now.. most have a hard time finding quality. finding defaulted seconds is easy.. and the most risky. 

My situation is unique in that my wife’s job gives us a place to live and they do not charge us rent or utilities.

I have quite a few friends and clients around Kansas City that use that method and are quite successful. 

What I wrote above does not create an attorney/client relationship between us.

From there, I would suggest meeting with a CPA (one who offers a free consultation for potential clients). 

It doesn't have to be a lot of money because for me its more about the networking and getting a another potential client by flexing my knowledge and experience.

I won't try to explain how he works other than to say he has a lot of clients that do what you are describing.

We've got a lot of clients looking down there and my in-laws have an Airbnb property down there.

I think my broker will be awesome and supportive with walking me through any transactions once I get them, but I'm prepared to work super hard to get my own clients.