I do a meetup in Mesa on Saturday morning's which is a good place to come meet even more RE professionals and investors.You have the experience so now you just need the right strategy to grow the portfolio.

Figure out a question set that helps dive into their expertise as investor-friendly agents, ask about their experience in the investment real estate space, and have them send you a few properties that could meet your goals to show that they can provide quality properties for your to analyze (hint: this is also good to see if they overpromised on their market [ex - Raleigh for cash flow]).Also with the new lawsuit, any agent that knows what they're doing will require you to sign an agency agreement prior to viewing a home.

We go to straight to sellers with our marketing the prices our better and the ones that meet our criteria we keep for cash flow and the ones that don’t we wholesale.

In my opinion, an in person meetup > an online connection.You may want to consider making a connection here and meeting up for coffee or attending a real estate networking event.Best of luck!

Contractor – This is one I really need help from the bigger pockets community in the local area. 

Start by networking through local meetups, REIA groups, and online communities like BiggerPockets to connect with experienced investors.

Meet ups could be a good source too since you’re in a big market. 

@Jason Khoury I purchased my current residence, a duplex, from a local non-profit about 5 years ago.

After meeting with a number (like 8) different contractors the quotes i got back made the deal, not a deal (i think). 

Go to some networking events in the area and meet other investors.