Currently, i am trying to massage the scope of work to keep within my budget.

Here, you'll finds tons of valuable information that will help enhance your knowledge as you decide what avenue to pursue in real estate.  

I was hoping we could at least save the frame, so we went to talk to code enforcement (Neighborhood Empowerment Department/ Neighborhood Enhancement Division).

Additionally, become a BP disciple by being active on this site and u will enhance your knowledge base considerably.  

In feng shui, when you are renovating or building a home, placing lots of coins (tied with a red string) is considered an excellent way to enhance wealth luck.

I'm looking at real estate as a possible enhancement to my retirement plan.  

In this way you keep the equity in your current properties locked in, and leverage OPM to enhance your portfolio.

has anyone had any issues with mobile site in regards to massaging.

What I realize with deals, like somebody mentioned above is that you have to build rapport with people, but more importantly 'deals' aren't usually initially presented for the buyer to make a killing, they are trying to get the best bang for their buck as possible, so you have to massage the deal and then make a pitch to the seller that will meet their needs!

Recently, upon trying to find ways to further enhance my knowledge, I found Bigger Pockets and the podcast.