If you're just getting started, stay local.

I would get back to local real estate investor meetups so you can connect with locals to the area and kind of get back in the game slowly that way.

I'm new to real estate investing and looking to connect with local investor.Thank youWhat are specific goals? 

For the areas of interest (you are local so I'll say suburbs west of City Line Avenue) there are few and far between -and- have many investors sitting on large sums of cash to jump on anything that comes up (where I would be navigating a reverse 1031.) 

I haven’t done my first deal yet, but through hiring a local contractor to build my personal residence I had this idea that I don’t hear people talking about.

I used to do BRRRR strategy here but now only do flips and help with others' house hacking or flipping.I had to move my BRRRR strategy side of the business to Tyler Texas.Are you still investing locally or only out of state?

From digging into real time market data and calcualting cash flow.. to literally driving for dollars, you want someone with an incredible network of pros who can unearth leads (probate attorneys, divorce attorneys, local fix and flip circles) that might connect you with a ready buyer or flud tenant.

Happy to answer any questions and always open to any advice local experts are willing to share.  

@Kash Tacke I'm a big fan of ADU's in general especially here in the mid west, yes you could potentially be on the front of the wave, but housing density is the solution to the affordability issue, anytime you are investing with affordability in mind is a great strategy to me, and sound like there are some incentives or at least supporting winds form the local city, that in itself seems like it would be worth at least approaching an architect or contractor to bid up some plans or concepts to take tot he city.  

Has good job at a local factory & recently started school to become a welder.