Like you mentioned, 80% of our economy is based on tourism, so take a macroeconomic view on this, and all the subsidies we see in health care, construction, government jobs, low property taxes, etc. are all because they're being paid on the backs of tourists.

For starters, tune in to the BiggerPockets podcast and connect with local lenders and brokers.

I am looking to get into tax liens locally for commercial properties, Chicago metro area only for now.

Better to make connections on here or a local real estate group. 

I am a local agent here in SLO and also own an investment property in the area.

If the copper makes you feel better then use it, plumbers in my area pipe their own houses in pex and only care for copper because they make more on material upcharge and labor to install.As a side note- acidic water breaks down copper, which ingesting can cause health issues, and can cause pinholes in copper piping.

BRRRR is hard enough if you are local, IDK how some people do this remotely.

Local Market: Investing in your local market can be advantageous because you're familiar with the area, which can make property management easier.

Find a local meetup, REIA, or group teaching how to run the numbers.

Upon seeing this name again, I looked it up online and found that the person it belonged to had a number of articles from our local news station for a number of crimes, to include forgery, identity theft, impersonation, etc.