I don’t have a dog in the fight and I’m not rooting against you.

A few quick tips:Wholesaling first: Great for learning deal flow without risking too much.Keep the winners: Deep discount, high-cash-flow deals are perfect for building your own portfolio.Mentorship matters: Find someone actively doing deals, not just teaching courses.Watch pitfalls: Compliance, team management, and local market demand are key.If you execute well, this approach can set you up to scale smartly.

Leveraging my deep knowledge and local market experience would be invaluable in identifying, analyzing, and acquiring high-potential, cash-flowing commercial properties for your portfolio. 

I've found a property that I see a lot of upside potential in, I'm not certain on the accuracy of my numbers but I know deep down that this property could be a great deal if acquired for the right price. 

I have properties in Cole/Clayton, Aurora, Lakewood, Villa Park, and Barnum that I've accumulated over the years and 2025 has been my most active year yet - as earlier this year, I noticed a deep buyer's market (that appears to have regressed back to more of a seller's market in recent months weirdly - at least in terms of asking prices!) 

I am starting to dig deep into the financials.

If someone is from the Chicago area and has roots, it often times makes sense to buy a good building in an area you like versus renting. 

I also have family roots in Coweta and Troup counties, and most of my early investing years were spent there, so I know it's a decent market to explore.   

It sounds like you just need very basic information, and beginner info is easy to come by for free, so I would only pay for the convenience of having structured lesson plan of information, not for the information itself.Once you have the basics, then you can start seeking out experts in specific areas, where the value of their information is much higher because it dives deep into a specific topic.  

I like to join Rooted meetup once a month. finding a mentor is more difficult there are different online groups that I could recommend you if you are willing to put the time and money on them