Aerospace Engineer and REI.

Then he stops working because he was waiting on the engineering drawings to be completed.

It can't be manufactured or mobile home and of course we'd have to do all the permits and if I'm coverting an existing building I'd have to have it engineered and permitted to meet code and environmental health requirements.

The lot is steep and we had an architectural engineer outline how the cost to remove boulders and build up high (where there would be a better view) would be quite substantial but building lower by the road was more feasible.

Its not the normal vanilla whosaling and you for sure need dough to pay for the entitlement process's  engineers studies and land use apps etc.

Anyone know an inexpensive and reputable structural engineer? 

Since you want it to be as easy/quick as possible, I'll give you three things you need to learn...as a starting point:1 - How to Analyze Markets to find the Micro-markets that are good to invest in.2 - How Money Works, so you can develop an unlimited number of strategies which will allow you to be able to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible.3 - How to design your own REI Plan by reverse engineering from your specific set of financial goals back to where you are now...then execute it by turning around and just following the breadcrumbs.4 - (OK, I said it wasn't as easy as "just one thing")...Learn what the meaning of the number sequence "1073751824" means, and how to base EVERY decision you make on the meaning of that number sequence.5 - Learn why it's so important to follow the 2 Golden Rules of REI, of which GR#1 is:  NEVER, under ANY circumstances, ever, EVER, spend your seed money (your starting cash). 

So while our syndications are going down in flames (well, more of an engine out) we are currently investing in a new fund and are still convinced this is a viable investing plan.

At that time, my net worth was pretty low, and as an engineer my income wasn't substantial either so did not make more than 200k/year.

This was a seller-financed transaction, the terms allowed us to use the ground as collateral and I brought partners in after I got all of the city approvals, and they took over the future expenses for the seller financing note and the other costs like engineering.