What are the first skills one should obtain to get started?

The biggest challenge is determining which is right for you in your current circumstances, desired investment asset, financially, and experience wise.On that last note, operating a run down building in a more desirable area, if one can be found that actually offers a better value, won't require to many different skills than operating a "turn-key" building.

How much you might make depends on your mgmt skills. 

For that reason, I'm trying to focus my research efforts more on areas that have skilled laborers and hospitals.

The rest of the state will slowly follow suit once our Democrat governer is elected out of office.The work force is highly skilled and manufacturing centric, but the union mentality has tarnished things since there's an entitlement sentiment among the blue collar workers.

I know my market and feel that I have skills needed to take a stab at this on a larger scale.

Make sure you get a sprayer that actually comes apart and allows you to replace them, or you'll be buying a new sprayer every 20 apartments.I believe our sprayer came with an exterior spray head, so we had to buy an finer-spray interior spray head to help with the over spray.Cleaning the sprayer between each use is vital.

As Ben mentioned, the labor is what's going to kill you on those old windows, labor and the fact that unless you have guys working for you that are real skilled at painting and glazing, they're probably not going to look "picture perfect" when they're done, either.

Experience, skills, etc. to show that you will be able to do the job, and make a profit.

Having only one aspect such as land may not be sufficient in an equitable exchange for the economic benefit for the use of money.If someone has no management skills, no experience, no capital or income, and can't contribute anything to improve the land as labor, but has 1,000 acres and wants to borrow $1,000.00 that is not an equitable exchange. if any lender did lend in that situation it would be a predatory transaction.