This seems the best engine to get into buy and hold.While my credit score is in good shape at 793, the down payment is the major roadblock.  

But those are a different animal in that if a buyer backs out (even surrenders their deposit) they still have the "marketing engine" running so it's easier to get another person to (in essence) pick up that contract.

A fellow investor told me the best way to get a quick estimate for Reno costs was to look at the 'Permit Value' of comparable renovations. For example:This Flip: https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/4261-23rd-...Pe...

If it is determine that utilities exist on site, you will need to hire a civil engineering company to coordinate with the utility companies or manage any necessary utility relocation. 

I am an Electro-mechanical engineer by education, and I currently work as a software/controls engineer in the HVAC space with a stable job and good income.  

That said, I will be replacing the exterior siding with probably engineered product...the current siding is attached right to the studs no sheathing, so I will have access to the walls from the outside. 

You would use the 7% market cap rate we already determined to sort of reverse engineer your value: $97,500 NOI / .07 market cap rate = $1.392M vauation.I started out saying this was oversimplified, and you'll noticed I used the word "assuming" about 10 times in the above example.

Anybody know a structural engineer in the DC, MD, VA area?

The Structural Engineer said it would be prohibitively expensive to jack it up and level it.

I just graduated from college with a degree in Engineering Physics.