You could even try reaching out directly to local agents or small real estate firms.

Check out The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods to get a firm grasp on why that is.

Now here is some advice many will disagree with me on but I firmly committed to this:  Most people that use a VA loan shouldn't.  

At our firm (tax advisory) we are offering a service to help clients with this and we expect many tax/cpa/law firms will as well. 

I'll send you a DM on a recommendation for a law firm a lot of our clients use.

To thrive in real estate investing, you must maintain a firm grip on your finances.

We also own an accounting/payroll firm and have a lot of MHPs, residential communities and apartment complexes as clients and have seen this happen a few times. 

Without a firm base and working familiarity with these three areas the investor will not have the knowledge to analyze, negotiate and close advantageous real estate transactions. 2- Experience - the first few deals are likely to be smaller, harder, with more “surprises” and not as profitable as the investor imagined.

What checks and balances would you need to put in place to avoid this.I am a firm believer that you should tie any bonus to a metric that the company is trying to achieve.

But I am looking for a local CPA.I see no compelling reason for that. 10 years ago, most of the local clients of my firm liked to come to our Houston office.