I attend Real Estate industry related business meetings monthly at the local Realtor's Association in Colorado Springs and the insurance agents who attend have all attested to drastic premium increases over the last year...  

I'd highly suggest attending as many local real estate networking events as possible in Seattle - find the host, make friends with them, and ask which general contractors they know, or ask who is doing the most deals in the group and ask them.

There are a lot of real estate meetups/groups that you can find happening in NYC and surrounding areas with a quick google search - I actually host a small one every month as well you're welcome to attend to network with folks. 

If I'm in your shoes (which I was a few years ago) I would recommend attending at least 1-2 real estate meetups a month to start putting yourself out there and networking with other players in your market. 

I would attend local meetups and start to meet other investors.

If you have a local real estate investment association or club (REIA) join and attend. 

Here's where you can find events posted on the forums up in the top right corner of the screen.

He made BP a ton of money through books, event appearances, etc.

I wanted to add that the best way to attend meetups is to make it a habit.

Check the in person events and meetups in your local area, our online community is full of knowledge and folks willing to share and still nothing replaces the opportunity to interact IRL, you never know who you will meet and where that can take you on your REI journey.