A flip can take three to four months when you're doing a cosmetic flip (new kitchen, new floors, new roof...etc).As for finding a competent contractor you simply have to interview them and see who actually takes notes, is reliable, gives suggestions, makes suggestions on how to find much more cost-effective finishes and does not over-charge then they're a good contractor but that contractor already has a ton of business.

Maybe if someone could walk me through what I need to do to be ready to buy if a recession was to occur and credit tightens (which is a cause and effect of recessionary pressures).My goal is buy during this type of period and I understand that could be difficult as lending practices change during hard times.

Flipping can be dangerous if you scale too quickly.

The repayment terms for a 401k participant loan are equal monthly/quarterly payments of principal and interest (typically prime plus 1%) over a 5 year term (longer if used to acquire your principal residence).Please note that if you take a full $50,000 and then pay back the loan, you can't take another $50,000 until 12 months after the first loan was fully paid back.Per the loan offset rules that went into effect with the 2018 Tax and Job Act: if you leave your job and the loan is current at the time you leave your job but then the loan goes into default because you left your job, you will have until your tax return deadline (including any timely filed extension) to make the loan current by depositing the outstanding balance into an IRA (and thereby avoid the taxes and penalties that would otherwise apply).Please keep in mind the multiple loan rules:Under those rules, the sum of the balances of a participant's outstanding 401k loans under a single 401k plan (using the highest outstanding balance of each loan over the last 12 months) can't exceed 50% or $50,000 whichever is less.

It's a state of disrepair and is a danger for all that live there.

Normally I wouldn't be too concerned, but there will be 31 similar units, so the effect of the decision is multiplied.  

An investor working with more capital in larger properties may see more income, and even a boost in rates to 24% or even 37% on some of that income, but the effective tax rate relative to the entire investment will still be low since only a small fraction is actually considered taxable.So, maybe $200/year in taxes to bring leverage into a deal and boost the return by several percentage points and several thousands of dollars. 

Isn't that pretty dangerous for a newbie?

In this case when we closed the seller made a comment to my realtor something to the effect of “getting robbed”.

I will ask the electrician about it at same time and I appreciate the advice in regards to how it would affect market.My uncle who owns a large number of units in Halifax recommended to me mini-splits but because of the new furnace I wasn't sure if it was cost effective since we didn't need the heating.