I also feel that way about my day job as a soils/foundation engineer.

Their home is underwater (bought for 500k+ in '05, recent comps price it at 141k-200k).Here are additional details:-Current on payments, next payment due early next month, cannot make February payment because of engineering fee and temporary housing costs (family is staying at a hotel)-Both spouses have excellent credit, high 700’s to 800-Lender is BoA, outstanding balance on loan is 315k on fixed loan with 10 years left -House is red tagged by city, city requires engineer to do soil samples and analyze hillside risk post-landslide in order release the red tag status-Filed a natural disaster forbearance to suspend the payment-Filed claim request secondary to homeowners insurance denying the claim -Preliminary report by geotechnical engineer estimates 80k-200k to repair and install proper drainage to hillside adjacent to house-Property repairs estimated to be around 10k-Property damage:o Carpet o A couple windowso Dry Wallo Mold—water pooling from the back door, no proper dry out has been done (probably much more additional work/costs on top of original homeowner 10k estimate)They're thinking about filing for bankruptcy and foreclosing on the home.

The first step is to collect data on the property including zoning, wetland, soils, topography, utilities, perimeter survey, easements, micro/macro market info, environmental, assessment information and legal issues.

Which is not just about the numbers but considers other important aspects of the property such as location, demographics, zoning, crime, soil, wetlands, flood area, red tags, condition, age, lead paint, etc.

You are all-in at 78% of value and your exit value is questionable as well.To fill in the pool, you will need to get a permit, have enginerring and soil compaction tests, and any other requirements the city/county demands.

I suppose the next thing for me to do is establish a profit line in the sand. I

I'm cautiously optimistic, but I realize that the economy currently rests on very unstable soil and something must be done.

The northern shore of Lake Michigan on the south side of the penninsula is gorgeous with miles and miles of light sandy beaches.

Only problem I see with that strategy is that if any other country takes a tactic out of the U.S. playbook and decides to invade us for our oil...of course, there are only a handful of countries that could possibly be a major threat to us on our soil, but there are enough nukes out there in the hands of countries that would be desperate for oil that the possibility is scary...

Also, unless you have the expertise, you don't know if these are buildable lots, or have an elevation problem, soil problem or drainage problem that would make them difficult to build on.