You have to be involved in the market, you MUST develop a local team (reliable and trustworthy) and the only way to doing that is investing, investing and investing.

Anyways, I hope you find a credible hard money lender.I joined the discord & facebook page too. it doesn’t look like trustworthy at all.thanks! 

And that knowledge can come from trust worthy boots on the ground across the country.

Outside of personal referrals, what would be a good starting point in finding a reliable and trustworthy lender?  

Reliable, trustworthy and affordable help isn't the easiest task to find in this Pensacola.

The more trustworthy and competent you are to a seller the less need they have to contact more people.Go watch the movie "mouse hunt".

If the person is more knowledgeable, trustworthy, you just outright like them. 

But to be frank, CA's trajectory is impossible to replicate as working remote has become more prevalent, companies more “decentralized”, and more people think about not just professions, but also lifestyles these days).Are you able to find trustworthy realtors/PMs or even service providers?

Investors can still have issues with tenants - it comes down to having a trustworthy PM and vetting tenants thoroughly. 

On my scale of trustworthiness, wholesalers fall below used car salesmen and politicians, and only slightly above Charles Ponzi.