We have a great professional and personal relationship and I’m good at my job.

I’m trying to find serious investors to build long term relationships with.....what are some good strategies guys/gals?? 

If one relationship goes south it is contained to just that partnership.  

We haven't made any concrete decisions about where we want to establish a team out of state but Memphis, Oklahoma City and Kansas City have stood out as early front runners.We're excited to learn, excited to be here, excited to meet other like-minded individuals, excited to build relationships and most importantly, excited to keep taking action to start reaching our goal of breaking my 'golden handcuffs' and reaching financial freedom!

Joining a group of like minded investors is key, you can form new relationships that could help you with financing as long as you find a good deal. 

This is a relationship issue!

The safe play for me is probably to just buy an Investment property in Buffalo (I already have a good relationship with a PM here who would be a great resource for me), but for some reason my heart is in Ellicottville - the idea of being able to use a property as a vacation getaway for a week or two a year and then rent it out the remainder of the year sounds super appealing.

As an added benefit—as you tour deals you are building relationships with the brokers and building that trust that gets them to recommend you as a buyer to their sellers.If touring the properties is too much workload or travel for you, get a partner and make that their role; while your role is sourcing deals, underwriting financials, and making offers.

Something specific I want to learn more about is cross-border investing in the US.I want to learn as much as possible and I want to build relationships with  and provide value to as many people as much as possible.

You'd be surprised how a random meeting can turn into a friendship or mentor-ship, but you have to be willing to put your face out there and take the time to develop relationships and acquire knowledge along the way.