I don't want to be looking at the cheaper hotel rooms because that's only what we can afford.

There are plenty of online services that will help you find people. 

If we take the median family income of just shy of $69k and median home values rising, our housing affordability index is dropping.

Do they expect the contractor to fund the job until they can afford to pay or their hml pays?

Mostly, having boots on the ground to service the property.

A lone handyman working out of the back of his truck usually has no insurance and also doesn't have a customer service department. 

I retired from Public Service locally about two years ago.Yes, I am interested in networking to learn more about the Real Estate Investing Business. 

Have a pre-approval loan letter handy that states how long it will take to close it and a maximum amount that you qualified for.Just try to stay as close as you can afford stay as close to the main city that you can.  

service.

I then show them another unit on the same property to needs to be completely renovated (cosmetic and hvac serviced etc).