I plan on attending my first REIA meeting on the 17th of this month and really look forward to meeting people who are in the industry and making some new friends, at the meeting and on the forums.  

I have also made money and built multiple businesses within the real estate investing industry.  

Various study's have been done showing that it is probably the largest industry in this region.

if it has wood shake, it will likely need all new OSB decking, but even with that and 2 layers of shingle removal, you would be at no more than $500 per square or around $9K in my market in KC....I don't know of any roofers in your area but sounds like you should definitely be able to get it done  right for WAY less than $15k...if you don't get any good roofer recommendations, try BBB, Angie's List or NARI ( National Association of the Remodeling Industry) for quality roofers and get a few bids....don't trust a "guesstimate" from another agent or anyone else who is not a roofer

You can find plenty of examples of similar pages in industries that are as far removed from gurus as we are.  

Research the Bureau of Labor and Statistics for specific job industries and how the area and its industries are currently doing.If you do buy an Income Property be sure to start with a reasonable Capital Improvement account for emergencies.

Other than that I have no background in real estate, but would like to get started in the industry.

I think the REI meetings and interaction for a lot of people is important.For that reason I am a believer that in this industry if your new getting a RE license can be good thing.. you actually learn about real estate and laws.

I meant the same as you....we are teaching our PM's the industry.  

For years the insurance industry have used firefighters to "bird-dog" properties that are damaged by fire.