Most of the work will be following up with warm leads already.)When you say you’re taking a job, will you be an employee on salary + commission or an independent commission only “contractor”.  

For the immediate time, I'd love any contractors and handymen suggestions, but eventually, to work with agents to buy and sell in the area. 

If you're willing to be more active, purchase a property or two in an area you personally know well and have key contacts (handypeople, contractor, lender, etc.).

I was a build manager and contractor in Hoboken for years, now a home inspector.

When I was tracking my hours, I used WhatsApp to communicate with my property manager, contractors, and guests—it timestamped every conversation and became my built-in log for documentation.

So if your replacement cost valuation on the policy is not high enough to actually rebuild the property (oftentimes this is the situation when contractors are charging premiums because they are so busy with other losses), and unless you are personally willing to pay the shortfall to rebuild the property, the insurer will only pay you the depreciated (ACV) for your loss.

I’m looking to expand my network and would love to connect with investors, contractors, agents, appraisers, or anyone who is passionate about real estate.Let’s connect!

many houses in the midwest, for example, are very old and need major rehabs.i personally think out of state investing is more difficult than advertised, and much more difficult in the current investing environment, with: prices high; interest rates high; tremendous demand for inventory, by both investors and retail buyers; and good PMs, contractors, etc. booked up.here's a really thoughtful thread with the experience of another CA investor and lots of different responses:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1215726-break...and here are some threads about how it can very easily go wrong:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1159104-overl...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1160450-run-i...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...finally, you also said you "don't have a lot of money to start with." 

Having a solid team around you like agent, lender, contractors etc.

They will be more focused on finding a buyer for a deal vs what date the DD ends and EMD is owed to the seller and most likely not be cancelling the contract or extending the DD to protect the lenders EMD funds.