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? 

@Cole Atkinson hey! I saw that you mentioned you couldn't find an REIA. If you have Facebook, look up and join Bluegrass Real Estate Investors Group. It's one of the better groups I've found in this area! I put myself out there in the group a while back and I made some great contacts. So if I have any advice, it's to join that group (or a similar one) and just put yourself out there with what you're looking for and what you have to offer. I'm willing to be you'll get something!

Awesome story though! I’ve got the bug like you as well! If I can ever help you with anything don’t hesitate to contact me!

@Cole Atkinson Hi, I would look to network virtually . You could look to wholesale locally with less competition but also less leads. You could drive for dollars locally or spend a day in Richmond/Berea and take down the addresses and then look up the owners. I own 16 units and all done from out of state. I have found 3 off market deals in less then 3 months and got creative to put less money in the deal and to continue to grow. DM me and we can talk. I grew up in KY but have since moved away but i wholesale and buy multi family virtually through networking.