My question is, what do you see that is missing between the agent/investor relationship? 

I find myself ever more motivated to take on the projects that I do and to build trustworthy relationships with the clients that I do work for, which is something I never put much effort into prior.

There are certainly many advantages for investing in your own backyard in terms of existing relationships, understanding the market and extra peace of mind especially when just starting out. 

@Jay Hinrichs has made an excellent point!

Can you share some of your tips on how you go about developing these relationships?

What I wrote above does not create an attorney/client relationship between us.

Will be moving soon to a (annoyingly) HOCL area for career and to be closer to family.Based on career/projected income, was offered a 0% down, no PMI, owner-occupied option (Rate is ~4.8%) from a bank we have a relationship with.

Timberland Bank is investor-friendly and they are a portfolio lender, so it might be worth establishing a relationship with them for future investing needs.

Fortunately, we are continuous renovators, and we have several pieces of property that we have been able to purchase and rent with excellent returns.  

I was disappointed and now focusing on building a local relationship to get a LOC based on my equity & assets.