(I would not DIY)4)  Other than extra natural lighting, any other major benefits to a skylight?

My natural inclination has been to get into the remolding side of things because I am someone that enjoys working with my hands and my most of my current experience is in HVACR working on pharmaceutical freezers and the like.

@Nick WestonIf you can get a deal for 20% below market or 10% below market, a 10%/20% market correction won't kill your investment.Interest rates are low and in my opinion still a great time to buy.With that said, don't just blindly buy any deal.If you are certain of a recession hitting soon, you can decide to use this time to research deals, connect with an agent, zone in on an area you want to invest in and build up your capital.A house-hack is another alternative.

I can write up an invoice right now that says "$3000 - replaced natural gas furnace", but until you fire up the furnace and test the performance and put eyes on the unit to verify it is new, who knows the quality of the work?

Secondly, should I do a HELOC, HEL or an alternative?

Based on the photos, the fixes look cosmetic in nature and I will be visiting this property on Saturday to have a closer look. 

Alternatively, if you do all-electronic applications, simply don't provide them the website for application and don't make them waste their time, hope and (most importantly) money if you've already ruled them out from the start.

@Mark Gliebe Hey Mark, You shouldn't just go on the Cap and Purchase Price because Cap Rates are dynamistic in nature and frankly subjective by market and asset class.

I'd always be naturally wary of moving any asset into California because of the "California Clawback" which allows CA to track any asset that goes back from CA to any place else via a 1031. 

Alternatively you could invest in crowd-sourced real estate investment like Fundrise or RealtyMogul, but those may have investment restrictions due to SEC regulations (ex: I think with Fundrise you can't invest more than 10% of your annual income if you're not an accredited investor).