I told him most of my money is in real estate investments, because I control the investment and don’t have to worry about external forces affecting the performance of my apartments.

A real contractor can start work without a deposit although we often buy the materials ourselves upfront.

Notwithstanding this section, a licensee may not pay or offer to pay a referral fee or finder's fee to an unlicensed individual that is not a party in the real estate transaction;(12) violates any provision of law relating to a buyer's freedom of choice in choosing an attorney, insurance agent, title insurance agent, or any other service provider to facilitate the buyer's real estate transaction;(13) fails to disclose in accordance with Section 40-57-139 the party or parties for whom the licensee will be acting as an agent in a real estate transaction;(14) receives compensation in a real estate transaction or directly resulting from a real estate transaction from more than one party except with the full knowledge and written consent of all parties;(15) represents more than one party in a real estate transaction without the full written knowledge and consent of all parties the licensee represents as provided in Section 40-57-137(M);(16) acts in the dual capacity of agent and undisclosed principal in a real estate transaction;(17) accepts deposit money which is to be delivered to the licensee's principal in a real estate transaction without informing the payor and having the payor acknowledge in writing who will hold the money received by the licensee;(18) issues a check in connection with his real estate business which is returned for insufficient funds or closed account;(19) fails to disclose in accordance with Section 40-57-137 any material facts concerning a real estate transaction;(20) violates any provision of this chapter or a regulation promulgated under this chapter;(21) violates a rule or order of the commission.(22) induces a party to break a contract of sale or lease, listing agreement, or buyer agency agreement;(23) engages in a practice or takes action inconsistent with the agency relationship that other real estate licensees have established with their clients;(24) fails upon probable cause of an investigator of the commission to make all records required to be maintained under this chapter available to the commission for inspection and copying by the commission or fails to appear upon probable cause for an interview with an investigator of the commission.

There's a lot of material here on Biggerpockets to help you get a a better idea of how to research rents, and property values, learn about what your actual expenses of holding a rental would be, pros and cons of various areas, etc.

In a month or two, you'll be a regular ol' material expert at REI and ready to take action.

It's going to much be more expensive to replace 35 square than 20.How about the plumbing and drains - what materials are they?

I could throw a rock and hit a house 4 houses down with 1 extra bathroom that appraised for 68k and its the same materials...  

The big thing is that you have to disclose what you are doing upfront and then do not deviate from that plan (a material change) without going back and getting the investor's permission/sign off for making that change to the business model under which they initially invested.

Just ordered Brandon's book . lots of material to absorb. 

If something goes wrong in the build, and if you structured all the llc correctly, you could simply declare foreclosure/bankruptcy on the llc, don't pay material, contractor, or labor without them holding anything.