I generally thought that these things were trade secrets to be held and protected by seasoned RE professionals and never to be shared.

My grandpa traded it a long time ago and died before he did anything with it and my grandma is not into taking any risk at all and has it on the market down there (we live in central ohio) so I can't be very active in that area so I'm using the Bigger pockets site.

The HOA Manager licensing law goes into effect July 1.Expect little reform for HOA home owners.Property managers (PM) will be greeted with new fees, higher operating costs, and costly licensing requirements.This Law illustrates what happens when the industry trade group for PMs (Community Association Institute (CAI)) writes the law and uses it to promote its’ financial interests. 

I am a draftsman by trade and I have autocad.

I would like the most bang for my buck and would love a duplex or any other multi-unit property, the more units the better in my opinion, especially if it is over 5 units so that I can add value to the property by increasing its NOI and trading up by doing a 1031 exchange or refinancing and expanding, versus just purchasing a single family residence with a single tenant. 

1) Ask for trade license, insurance, references2) Not providing any of the above, or license not in the contractor's name3) You don't.

Either they want something from me, I want something from them, or we can trade things of value, like our time. 

Since you are a newbie investor I would recommend sticking to one stratedgy rather being jack of all trades. 

I find that hands on experience is the best way to learn New trades.  

It seems like the primary trade off is a quality of tenant base for ROI on your money (less hassle).My two properties so far were probably in a C and C- neighborhoods, and those were mixed result.