Networking In A Small Market

[Cole Atkinson]

Brand new to the physical BP website/forums. Had read a few books without realizing they all came from the BP community and have been religiously listening to the podcast over the last few months.

I currently run a small bar/restaurant chain in Southeast Kentucky and have been dying to get into investment real estate. Finally took the plunge and recently purchased a flipped duplex on Main Street of a smaller city that I am opening another bar in. Completely refurbished and picked up with an FHA loan so I plan to househack it for a year. I will be living for super cheap this first year but once I rent out both units it should cash-flow about 350 a month. The duplex also comes with a small quarter of an acre next to it which I hope to either develop or sell down the road. I imagine even in a small market(growing fast compared to surrounding towns) downtown property can only appreciate. Not a homerun, but a good base hit with minimal work needed to finish the rehab to the house.

I've got the bug now, but liquid capital is seriously lacking to move forward as quickly as I aspire to. I'd really like to start to wholesale as I think it would allow me to drum up some capital for future purchases while also learning more. Here's my problem: I live in London, KY which is city of 10,000 people about an hour outside of any major city hub. Surrounding cities include Williamsburg, Corbin, Somerset, Berea, and Richmond...all cities I'm sure nobody has heard of. I can't find REIA's or meetups of any kind even in nearby bigger cities like Lexington. I know a few smaller investors in the area but none that are seriously pursuing real estate investment/flipping/developing of any kind. How can I network around my city without having to drive 4+ hours to Louisville for organized networking events? Because my "day job" is still pretty intensive, investing in real estate that is farther outside my realm is probably not feasible. I watch wholesale companies make deals hundreds of miles away but I would really like to keep things localized while I learn the business so that I can control the risk better. I also would prefer to BRRRR around my area - at least at first - so that I can be as hands on as possible and soak up as much experience as I can.

Does anybody have advice for networking successfully in markets that are smaller and well outside of big city hubs?