Attend a Meetup in your area or meet someone local and grab a coffee or a beer.5.

3) Check out some of the local meetups that you can find in this forum!

Sorry you had this happen....But there are a few takeaway lessons here.First - Never use a GC that advertises as any other trade.

You should check out CFRI, the local chapter of the National REIA.

With local home and land prices so expensive, I'd like to explore building a Tri or FourPlex on the back half of the lot. 

I'll usually go there first to get a baseline and then further refine that with local listings, etc.. 

I recommend spending a couple nights in the unit so you have the perspective of a guest to notice anything you are missing or need and develop a check list for your cleaners and/or property manager.Your agent should be advising you on all of this and more and have local contacts for you. 

I am going to go to work for them get my cowboy boots and my big hat.. 4X4 with a quad in the back and my fly rod to make sure the blue Ribbon trout streams are as advertised..

.$1m advertised at a 7% cap means the NOI is $70k, or so they claim.

To your question Why in the area, with no experience in it I thought starting local would make sense.