Social distancing will be a little harder and responsibly/safely enjoying some of the refreshments may be a challenge, but it it being done elsewhere. 

Our standards include that income must be 3X the rent, credit score above 650, clean background check, 1-2 past landlord references (the more the better), 3-6 months pay stubs (because of COVID, we requested more months), valid social security and ID and so on...

I know it super hard right now to meet other investors since everyone is social distancing but I found some cool zoom meetings on meetup.com that are just as helpful.

I saw this deal at 8:00am, contacted the Owner and scheduled a showing at 9:30 (social distanced of course...looking at you, COVID), used the BP calculator to check the numbers, and made a verbal offer after the showing.

I don't have a huge real estate network and I've spoke to most of the people in my social media network but I haven't found anyone else that is looking to tackle the real estate world like I am. 

The key is making sure the street is nice and not buying in an area where the tenants might feel worried about safety.

I am a social worker and I have worked in many sectors of public health and many social programs.

Up-front fees are the biggest red flag in private lending.Until we can socialize again, your best option is to go to Meetup.com and call some local real estate club operators.

@Mark Leclair seek out @Jeremy Beland he has a great social presence and is actively working on properties and posting about them so its cool to watch the deals he is working through with his team.  

We used to get together once a month, either to socialize and get to know one another or meet at the public library for some free RE education with such topics as 1031 exchange, Airbnb, how to find off-market deals, etc etc.