However, most of the people I run into have "only" about $20,000 to $60,000 available for their first project. 

@Rami KhaldiThe best way to find people in your area is to attend local meetups.

A fair number of people with Duluth investments who are outside of Duluth area as well!  

Many people do on-market wholesaling.

@Balaji Vasudevan I recommend starting by going to local meetups, meet other people who were in your position, learn what they did and see what interests you.

Unfortunately, BP is full of people paid to give referrals.  

:) How do I connect with people?

By ONLY looking at people with a lot of money in stocks and bonds, they get a very different sort of person than you might find on this site.

But I get that many people starting out don't think of this, so you are right.  

I’m from Cameron NY as the location thing wouldn’t allow me to put my town I live in for some reason.The first step is just to get appointments with people who say they're interested in selling.