As a beginner, think "easy" unless you possess strong renovation skills.

States have different requirements but you could get paid to help someone do the work then once you have experience you could test to get a contractors license (seems to be a shortage of contractors).  

What price ranges have shortages.   

Today in Phoenix vs 08 are really completely different and we still have a shortage of rentals, thus why many are being built now.

Hi Josh,If you're going to do this, you'll need to find the leak and fix it before fixing the ceiling.If it's wet up there beware of electricity too.The ceiling can be a homeowner fix (how well it's done is up to you and your skill).If you choose to try it, you'll will need to match the drywall texture, and prime the fix and entire discolored area with primer that covers water spots, and repaint the area to match (or the whole ceiling).If the drywall is heavily damaged that will need to be replaced too.The sell texture repair spray to help with this (see YouTube for how to use it).Good Luck!

If REI is your chosen endeavor after the Corps, work on building your real estate skills and a great team  with subs, agents, attorneys, etc.

This will help you to develop the skills to track, manage, and develop what to do with leads when they come in.

The knowledge and skills of repair work and dedication was there but the knowledge of real estate investing needs attention now.How did you find this deal and how was in negotiated?

It’s a 3bd/2.5bath and will be my primary residence and I will Airbnb the open rooms.Although I was open to finding another out of state investment, I saw this as a great opportunity to 1) house hack and live for free; and 2) learn the Airbnb game so I can add another set of skills to my tool belt.Closings are set for 6/28 and 7/14.

I’m hoping that I can use those skills to optimize my bottom line.