If i was looking for a breeder i would try to narrow down what i like in snakes and see who specializes in that. If your only going off of geographical area use the map feature on morph market to see if your area has any close breeders. Craigslist is another option but not the best.
I think doing the proper research now and getting familiar with type of animal you want is a good start and then when the weather heats up buy what you want from someone that is a professional. Also if your looking into professionally built cages those take time to ship and right now would be a good time to place an order. Shipping snakes is not as bad as you might think, i was apprehensive too but its worked every time for me and i have not read of any horror stories on the fourm yet.