But to be honest with you, If you do not learn some construction skills, your progress will be a lot slower as contractors will be raking in the majority of your profits.Get a pro account on this site so you can access the PRO only blogs and avoid all the goofy stuff that can confuse you sometimes.Take NO advice from salesmen such as realtors/brokers.

If you live near an area where someone is building a large manufacturing complex that will require many workers of all different skill levels, your area is going to be great no matter what is going on around the rest of the country.A lot of people think we're "due" for another recession.

If the first one does not go well, then it often kicks some investors out of the game.  Real

Having an old rental with a lot of kids will crack walls so will extreme temperature changes .it can look good and blend out well if you have the skill and patience .

It's extremely hard to find good skilled labor.

I’m licensed contractor 3 states and have crew and skill set to handle the task.

With your combined skills, one very good way to grow your portfolio can be simplified as buy 2, sell one, rinse and repeat.  

@Rebecca Seidler what your skill set and goals are it actually has very little to do with the house and more with personal style.

Assessment of where you're buying and its 'frothiness factor'2 - Your need for cash flow vs longer term appreciation/equity building, mainly will depend on your time horizon with owning the asset3 - Your skills/ capabilities - some people are more naturally geared towards handling lower class areas, tenants, and usually the items that come up maintenance wise with this.The advice I usually give to 'youngins' (I'm 36 by the way) is to take the long view - which means the equity building, and your TIME to continue focusing on your career, building skills, etc - would lead me to be biased towards the property that you felt would hold / appreciate in value more over time.....

Changing an entry knob or a deadbolt is one of the easiest basic handyman skills to learn.