I told her that she could pay the rent or pay the plumber for a day and a half of work to fix 23 pipes that had busted.

By allying yourself with the right people and learning as much as you can, you can receive just as good a RE education as the most reputable "guru" out there is offering.But the opposite criticism is true as well.

We have made friends with electricians and a plumber and learned from them, but hire them more and more.

I also have a 25+ year stellar reputation in construction in our area.Mostly I wanted to throw this out there to just let others know that it IS possible, BUT also VERY dependent on those long term relationships and having great finances even if not available for the project at hand.Dan DIetz

There are usually a few contractors there at the meeting and if not, the group can definitely refer you to several reputable contractors they have used.

Intend on using a reputable accountant to do my taxes this year as with an LLC it’s not advisable to do your own taxes.

How do I go about getting a plumber, electrician, roofer, etc?

When things go wrong, other good and hardworking contractors, tend to get a bad reputation.

Up to this point, I'm getting my information from a plumber who verified no leaks in the current piping, and that adding gutters would probably fix things - but there was no way to know for sure until installing the gutters and seeing what happens after a heavy rain.

Do you know good a good plumber/electrician/hvac company/etc?