If you are as busy as you sound from your post, trying to invest now will only result in you placing too much trust in others to find you what you want and not enough trust in yourself to learn the process.

I agree - you need to establish relationships first via good work,  then move from a transactional deal to a trusted relationship. 

You have to accept being 80% prepared, and trust that you and your team are good enough to figure the other 20% on the fly.

I lived in Florida for 2 1/2 years and owned a business... trust me, I know there are sharks, I experienced them first hand. 

I spent a ton of time researching and connecting before finding someone I trusted and pulling the trigger. 

The key is to show up regularly, as you will build trust by familiarity.

We allow our borrowers to choose their GC but prefer that they've had experience with them and warn them about the importance that they trust them.

They trusted me and saw that I had a track record of rehabbing lots of houses for years(not my first deal or second deal or third deal).

try Homeadvisor or look for a handyman you can trust.... hard to find at a reasonable price

Scammers are very smart too and they certainly know the basic trust principal that if someone agrees to a background check they must have nothing to hide.