Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Utilizing the preREO strategy, a receiver (i.e. a local real estate agent or property manager who you may already have a relationship with) could be appointed to make repairs and rent out the home during the foreclosure process.

Just remember anyone who has acted as your employee, attorney, accountant, investment banker or broker, or real estate agent or broker within the 2-year period ending on the date of the transfer of the first of the relinquished properties is considered your agent and is disqualified from being your QI.So definitely ask them for recommendations but they cannot act as your QI on the exchange. 

Have been talking about getting into real estate investing for the last 2-3 years and finally pulled the trigger on a 3 unit house hack in Soulard that will be closing later this month and will be self-managing the property.I'm trying to network a bit with other investors, build a solid team of contractors / handymen, and set my systems up in way to scale, but also so my tenants have a good experience.

In addition, they connected me to the preferred lenders who also helped with closing on the property within a short period time.

Since you're open to markets beyond NYC, you might want to connect with local investor meetups or REI groups in those areas to build relationships with agents, wholesalers, and lenders who understand the nuances of each market.If you're looking to break out of analysis paralysis, maybe start by narrowing down one or two target markets and running numbers on actual deals.

My recommendation would be somewhere close by so you can manage it yourself.

I will be managing and will be paying a real estate agent friend to show the properties for me.

Amateur investor/full time agent here. 

I found my handyman through my RE Agent.