Church. 

Merely tell the party that hosed you (if they really did) that;"If this is not rectified within 5 business days I will make it a point to tell EVERYONE how you failed to handle the situation; this includes people I meet; at church, at Little League, at PTA, at Lodge, in line at Starbucks or the grocery, at the bus stop, on forums at our local community bulletin board.

The biggest issues were finding reliable contractors even when they were referred from good friends and through my church.

You'd have to pin that to those on the political right my friend; progressives don't approve of a corporate take-over of the government, the Supreme Court defending such policies as Citizens United, the surveillance state, torturing or drone-killing, or the failure to separate church and state.

Here's the picture:Our church, Gilbert SDA church in the Phoenix area, is looking at a house to buy in a county island that we will transform into our church home over time.

Contacts can be made through church, associations, civic groups, non-profits that have everything to do with RE or have nothing to do with it.

Yeah, I have a potential contractor who goes to my church so I would think he'd be reliable.

Church Hill is one of the top up and coming neighborhoods but the deals are in the rough sections, which may get gentrified but it's a long wait and sort of a gamble in my opinion.I'm looking for a SFR now to live in and rehab, preferably in any decent area.

Its just that need of human interaction to really get going .Unless you have sit through these fantastic sales seminars and got the inspiration well its hard to imagine... much like church.. we all have a bible or some sort of faith based book.. but we still go to a service to listen to a priest , preacher , Imam , Guru ( of the Indian variety)  what have you.. because its that person to person interaction  that motivates and inspires. 

Advertise on Craigslist and your church bulletin/newsletter.