I would start to see if your local high school, middle school etc have any teachers or people teaching business.

If you are planning on living in the property as your primary, you can request to terminate the lease as you will be taking possession for owner occupy, but confirm with a local real estate attorney on the specific verbiage and process as it varies by state. 

Hey Latonya, accepting out of state vouchers can increase your tenant pool and potentially increase your rental income, but it also introduces complexities like verifying voucher validity with distant agencies, dealing with unfamiliar local resources for the tenant and navigating potentially different eviction procedures in another state.

Join your local REIA and get with like minded people.

Varies on the laws of the state you are doing business in, demand, and local zoning laws.1.

Join Local Real Estate Groups, 2.

You may need to consider looking at a local commercial bank. 

I live in San Diego and am interested in investing locally to be a little more hands on while I am learning.

I’m new and trying to stay local and it’s been tough

This seems like exactly the type of community that would bad STRs though, so I'd definitely be diligently researching local laws.