However, if you don't have much experience with purchasing real estate, or are unfamiliar with your local area, then it may be beneficial for you to work with an agent regardless of where you are sourcing your deals from.Your agent should be providing value beyond whatever amount they are charging you, and if they're not it may be time to find someone new to join your team!

I have a HELOC on my rental, I got it with a local credit union.

Are you planning to invest locally in Rhode Island, or are you open to investing out-of-state?

Also set up some alerts for your local city names, so when people talk about your area, you can jump in and meet people.

He’s probably going to end up going to a trade school, get a real estate license, work with a local contractor to become a building contractor.What are your thoughts about buying a property early in your life?

You notice it on the forums as well...we rarely discuss real transactions any more and all the talk is about "the market". it is expected, pretty well expected to behave like that.one thing that we don't understand is that why certain market remains so hot and strong (for example some local market in CA), this one is unpredictable. 

We worked to put together a development deal for a local developer.

Huge tourist presence, but the population on the books is around 6,000 and its a no go at the zip code to most...Typically, your best best in rural areas is going to local banks or credit unions. 

However, a local real estate investor in a similar situation once told me he couldn't get the tax deduction because he didn't qualify as a real estate professional on one of my posts in the forum. 

I'm a local resident (Rockledge), realtor, and investor.