I started a new post asking people's thoughts about insurance costs in your local area and specifically costs to rebuild and other challenges:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/95/topics/1227051-insur...

Call your local FBI field office and ask for the duty agent.

Focus on saving, building your credit, and connecting with local investors.

Their decision to expand into Ohio is not just a strategic move for the company but a significant boon for the local economy.

I'm local to Stamford and always willing to talk about the market or anything relating to real estate in general, feel free to reach out.

Start small, build a reserve fund, and work with local experts to ensure your first investment is a solid one.Good luck!

For example, you might leave $10,000–$25,000 in the deal, end up with a $3,000 monthly payment, and only collect $3,000 (or slightly less) in rent.This applies to my local market and primarily to Class B or higher real estate.You’re better off finding a solid property that needs only light cosmetic work (e.g., paint, flooring, or perhaps a kitchen or bathroom remodel), buying it at a decent discount, and putting down at least 25%.

Contact a local closing attorney as they may have one for you to use. 

Try reaching out to local media outlets, search for articles talking bout fraud, find the reporter who wrote the article and reach out to them.

I am considering getting into this space (looking at some courses), but worried that its too late, and that deep local market knowledge/understanding of buyers/connection with developers etc is required to make this work, which only incumbent/long term investors will have and would be hard for a new entrant starting from scratch to catch-up...is my hypothesis valid in your opinion ?