I have a reliable contractor who has done flips, I am also a licensed agent and know my market.

Start small - get yourself a househack, learn from your own experience of owning the rental property you live in, continue to educate yourself with reliable resources, and then worry about the next home.Having just one solid investment will put you ahead of most Americans than trying to find a way to buy 10 doors out of state in an area you don't even understand. 

That GC that won't rob you, be reliable, care about his/her work, work with you on draws. 

Where can we find reliable source of REI Market trends?

- If I were to buy in Indiana, how should I go about finding a reliable property management agency?

No right or wrong answer, but there is probably more risk buying a property and THEN trying to find/build a reliable team on the ground.Trying to find contrators, inspectors, agents, etc. you can really TRUST is difficult w/o a property though.Makes the most logical sense to find a GREAT PMC who can connect you with others as needed.

I've been reading about LLC protections and many sources that seem to be reliable say that a single member LLC is useless and judges pierce the corporate veil on these all the time.

Not possible.The only way to reliably get in touch with motivated sellers is for you to make it easy for them to find you.Get a solid website, work on the 3 pillars of conversions:1.

But in any event, that trade-in value will be WAY BELOW top retail dollar he could get if he could afford to list it on cars.com and wait indefinitely to get a top dollar on well maintained, reliable car of the same size and year of make.   

The contractors I've hired have not been reliable.