As much as we're interested in having the work done, I'm very much interested in working with the Handy Man/Contractor and learning the trade so to speak.Are there any good local recommendations for what we're trying to accomplish?

The many problems with Arbitrage have been beaten to death over the last few months. in trading Commodities or futures, leveraged equities, there's something called the risk of ruin.

Local Facebook's Buy, Sell, and Trade pages.

Get your mechanical trades over there to tell you what's going to be required (lots of times you have to upgrade what's there, not just replace what got wet).

Understanding the underlying taxable activities is important, because while one type of taxable income can be a deal killer, the other absolutely is not.UBTI is generated when a tax exempt engages in a trade or business on a regular or repeated basis.

I can assure you , an AC guy is one trade you will call multiple times in a year with 8 units.

I started with 10 little rental condos in 2011 and traded them all in, one at a time for apartment complexes.  

It seems like the market is too good for manual labor trades right now and they can afford to through out crazy numbers for smaller jobs that they aren’t as interested in.

@David Sosa, are you looking for jack of all trades or specialist?

It keeps from having to walk the job site with different trades and it saves everyone time.