I will need to have a hard money lender in order to purchase my first house but am not sure if the network place on bigger pockets is the way to go.  

Find an agent who is an investor. go to meetups in your area to get exposed more and network. picking up random properties on Zillow with out knowing all the expenses and repairs isn't the best way to utilize the calculator. you will need accurate numbers to see if you will cash flow. start your search for a property now as sometimes it can take time to find the right one depending the area. get pre approved and go house hunting with a link minded realtor. then you can plug in the numbers into a calculator and see if any will work. best of luck.

I am wanting to start networking with others and get to know the investing life style more.

Find local meetups and network.

Get SMART and figure out what kind of real estate investing gets you excited and can get you on the path to Financial Independence.Work on your network.

From my experience, legal zoom does a good job at setting up the entities but does not always consider what entity structure is optimal for tax purposes.Ryan Ragano, CPA

May fly down to meet if all looks goodWill leverage the killer agent's network to help setup the team of property managers and lenders on the groundClose the dealHave tenantsKeep tenants happy and stress free by providing spectacular servicesReceive check!

Love to be able to see if I can help, I'm always looking to grow my network. 

This will connect you with like-minded folks in your local area and help you network. 

Here lately I have noticed that my deals go to local buyers and I would like to build a network to include more Out of State Investors without having to go through people.