Good contractors are sometimes too busy for you to find.I would suggest posting an ad in the "Services Needed" section of Craigslist and making a sort of "open house" and invite any contractor interested in the job to come look at the property and give you their estimate.

My family was invited to a friend's house last Friday.

Thanks very much for the invite! 

If you would like an invitation, please let me know.  

I ended up calling the owner of the fsbo and left a low ball offer on his voicemail...he called me back and invited me to his open house this weekend.

We found a private investor by taking to friends and family.HML's are good if you are going to flip or be able to refinance after rehab, but isn't a good long term strategy.Few will be clamoring to mentor, but you can invite other investors to coffee or a meal to pick their brains, or offer to help seasoned investors to get the experience.  

About a month ago,  my brother invited me to a convention up in Tampa,  where I've really had my eyes opened up to all of the possibilities. 

You start to get a real feel for some of the great characters and true professionals here on BP.Follow-up with them by inviting them to become a "colleague", in your invite, ask a question or two in which they specialize or ask for clarification to a post they may have typed up.

Invite a few people to lunch and pick their brains and ask if you could call for advice.

I was just invited to this one:http://www.meetup.com/FIBI-RealEstateVenturaCounty/If people on BP want to set a meeting in the Los Angeles area, please include me.