I picked up materials on Monday , a 5 hour round trip to Lancaster Pa to pick up metal roofing .

It's a cheap, no-risk way to get your feet wet and learn a few things.

I believe those that are the most successful are 1) well rounded 2) experienced 3) hard working 4) know their why and are passionate.Pick one and commit till you feel like you could competently talk to another REI.Goodluck!

Outside of those types of issues, construction is a year round possibility.If you're flipping, you can take advantage of Fall/Winter property discounts, and plan to list the property by Jan/Feb months to beat the competition.

Main problem is, there is what looks like 1-2 feet of still dark water sitting in the basement ( completely concrete unfinished basement no drywall or flooring).

Round down a bit, as we are in a beach location.  

I had a great conversation with @Kay Kay Singh today about the depreciation of gas stations, and thought I would share some relevant information regarding the tax laws for the general benefit of the BP community.Gas Stations (or 'retail motor fuels outlets' as they're called by the IRS) are depreciated over 15 years, and not 39 years like almost all other commercial properties.If any one of the following three criteria are met: It is not larger than 1,400 square feet. 50% or more of the gross revenues generated from the property are derived from petroleum sales. 50% or more of the floor space in the property is devoted to petroleum marketing sales.Here is the link to the IRS publication on this subject where the above words were take from.

Lime bikes is super bullish on Malden, there is a lime bike that's been placed like every two feet on that path so I'm sure they have done their research too. - I personally know several people at MGH where I work who have recently moved out to that area and they are young professionals who make decent $ and have no problem commuting into downtown Boston everyday from Malden. - Here's the other big thing about Malden for me. 

A 988sf roof w/ a 6/12 pitch is only 1,105 square feet of roofing w/ a 10% material waste that's ~12 squares of shingles.Roof Quantity CalculationOakridge roofing shingles are $140/sq at Lowes.12 squares*$140/square = $1,680 in shingle materials + a few hundred dollars of underlayment and flashings, so there shouldn't be more than $2,000 in materials.So in other words your Contractor has quoted you $9,000 for labor for a roofing job that will likely take a crew of 3-4 guys one to two days tops. 

I am unsure as of now about taking a HELOC to invest and think I would prefer to get my feet wet prior to the HELOC, unless this is advised against.