And I'm having trouble to find a reliable buyer agent + pm combination, I see not all pm provide buy/sell service(not sure if this is true) , so it would be hard for me to locate my desirable property, so I go down the easy route.

And, secondly, do you know of any reliable contractors and/or trades in the Greensboro, NC area? 

I have trouble finding a guy who will just clean gutters on a reliable schedule and this guy has 2 people willing to help him with a kidnapping and attempted murder....

It's probably a good idea to find a reliable CPA now to start building the relationship and you can be sure everything is being done correctly rather than 2-3 years in you decide it's unmanageable & have to go back to untangle the mess.I did the latter and feel like I made more headaches for myself by trying to do it on my own through TurboTax.

I don't know what reliable lenders are out there that are very knowledgeable with VA rules and I can rate shop.

Buy right, have reliable subs, submit plans as soon as possible, listen to your realtor, be helpful to the inspectors, and do the math with accurate imputs.

Hey @Benjamin J Paoletti - I have a reliable contractor in the area if you want to PM me I can give you his number.

Any advice on reliable service providers for beginners.

I am familiar with the arbitrage concept but have never heard of this outfit and wonder whether anyone on here has had any experiences with them or can give any insight into whether they are reputable, reliable, etc.

They are thieves trying to take advantage of out of state investors.Sorry to hear that….I had something similar happen to me on a flip I was doing before I was able to find solid and reliable contractors.