Contractors- the good (is there?), the bad and the ugly

[Shai Flax]

Hi BP!

I'll start with that- I am really (really) frustrated.

I'm investing in Pittsburgh PA and one of the things that is holding me the most is the fact that I can't find a contractor. At all.

I have a rental property that needed just a minor fix so the PM took care of that for me. Now I want to buy a duplex that will probably need a nice amount of work and I afraid to do that because I don't have a contractor yet. 

I have tried to look search (and reach out) in Home advisor, Angie's list, Yelp, Houzz. Also looked here in Pittsburgh forum and couldn't find any refferals. I was looking in the Facebook area group but I have a trust issues with refferals from Facebook.

I'm OOC so I don't know anyone from Pittsburgh (exept my agent which have no refferal for me).

I know that I'm doing something wrong obviously and I would really like to know what.

Any input or recommondation will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!