I am an Agent that is familiar with the tacoma/federal way/ Renton area.

Anyce, It sounds like a great plan that you've laid out for yourself (and I most likely say that because it mirrors my own plan starting out :) But seriously, the easiest way to get your start is to be a serial mover.

I'm a wholesaler in Seattle/Tacoma and I just recently explained the wholesaling concept to a realtor the other day.

My first suggestion is to make it to some BP or REI meetups for Tacoma to start building your network and maybe find a mentor to help you get started in the areas that interest you.Feel free to tell us what aspects of REI interest you, flips, buy and hold, whole selling, etc.

I hope to connect and network with local real estate agents and investors in the Seattle/Tacoma area to learn as much as I can about investing and becoming an investor friendly agent.

Now I'm ready to get back into it.I ended up at a free guru seminar in Tacoma last month and didn't take the bait but it did jump start my interests. 

A mover will know.

Not even outside Seattle, like Tacoma, etc.

Sounds like you may have already done something similar, so it wouldn't be like you are stepping into unknown waters.I prefer to take that kind of buying power and get 2-3 rentals in Tacoma over 1 rental in Seattle or Bellevue.  

Maybe I will stick to Tacoma and possibly expand into Bremerton.