I know that people coming from Real Estate rather than the trades and moving into being a landlord, and ESPECIALLY women, tend to like wasting, ahem, I mean spending money on them, but you should bite the bullet and either find excellent, trustworthy tradesmen yourself (who usually have no interest in working for home warranty wages) and/or learning basic mechanicals and trades yourself, at least HOW to do it even if you don't.

Are they trustworthy and do what they say they are going to do when they say they're going to do it?

Not because I have to.After trustworthy cleaner and handyman with backups - you need to set up a few things to help you out. - i.e. digital door locks, wifi controlled thermostats, ring camera on the exterior entrance.  

You can search online for companies in your area that lend that way.But I'm guessing if you talked to the people around you, showed them what real estate investing can do, and offered a good enough return, you could pool money from multiple family and friend sources to make it happen.Most people aren't sitting on tens of thousands of dollars, but most people have 401ks or IRAs and if they trust you, and you are trustworthy, you can teach them how to pull loans on their retirement accounts that don't penalize them, and give you access to more money than you realize you had access to.Probably start there.

You must have a trustworthy property manager or contractor to oversee the rehabs, plus true/honest ARV comps.

Also looking for a recommendation for a good, trustworthy property manager in the Lehigh Valley. 

I am buying a duplex near Lake Phalen in Saint Paul and am in need of a reliable, trustworthy handyman that can do a handful of repairs including misc electrical (changing GCFI), misc plumbing and some exterior work such as scraping, priming and painting window trim, etc. 

I am buying a duplex near Lake Phalen in Saint Paul and am in need of a reliable, trustworthy handyman that can do a handful of repairs including misc electrical (changing GCFI), misc plumbing and some exterior work such as scraping, priming and painting window trim, etc.

The LOI is non binding and does not require a deposit, asking for a deposit shows that the broker/seller is not trustworthy. 

I'm not sure if the best practice for that is to just have a partner go visit, to build a really strong and trustworthy team, or if it's just crazy altogether.