I am new to real estate investing and looking to connect with any local investor.

You can find a lot of meetings on the MAREI calendar, both MAREI's meetings, local landlord group meetings and a few other meetings hosted by our members. 

HUDuser.org is great for vacancy rates, but cross-referencing with local market reports is important for more context.For job diversity and employers, LinkedIn or regional economic development websites often provide insights.

Try talking to local banks who want to do business with you.

He is our local expert realtor and real estate investor! 

@Michael VelezThe best thing you can do is join a local real estate investing club.

I am about ready to just manage myself from out of state and have a couple of local handymen help me out when things come up.

We've worked with local banks and been able to finance the three we own without any issues.I don't necessarily know if it's "beginner" investor friendly but you'll learn everything you need in the bootcamp which is the gold standardWe get loans with 3-7 year balloons and 25 year amortization typically

If you want to network or ask specific questions about your local market, go to your local real estate forum and connect with investors from your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/86-local-real-estate-networking5.

One needs to have outstanding local market knowledge to underwrite effectively.