The city inspector did sign off on the work, and I sort of knew it wouldn’t be perfect going into it, because he was 1/2 the price of other contractors estimates I received.

.- Urgent maintenance issues, this is the most tricky part, in my case I have 3 of these situation and the go-to contractor didn't even answer the phone, so I had to find someone else, so made many calls to get this sorted quickly.One of my investors lives in Chicago and found that the house was destroyed when the tenant left so his wife came to Dallas for 2 months to fix everything so they can put back in rent. 

You're just another rich guy from out of town until you get to know them and hopefully establish some sort of a friendship or good working relationship. 

The jobs I have held have been kind of “babysitting” jobs where I’ve usually only had about an hour or so of real work during my shift which has allowed me to read all sorts of business and real estate books, listen to real estate podcasts, search for deals on the MLS and elsewhere all during the course of my work shift.

Well, this has been sort of an emotional roller coaster given we need to sell the place within a time limit given our financial and health situation (plus wanting to put an offer on the home we want before it sells).

you could look for opportunities with reverse mortgages in default (backwards marketing) and tax defaulted property (the last group can be difficult to sift and sort due to large quantities).In the end, you’ll do much better focusing on solving problems that others cannot or are not willing to solve (hoarding, squatters, liquidity, defective title, skips, etc.).BTW, I started with working foreclosures (1978) and then deceased owner and title-impaired property about (35) years ago and have closed several thousand deals to date.  

You say you are on a shoreline of some sort, Why does the water just not run into the river or lake or whatever you're on?

They were also able to provide new estimates on the work needing to be done including correcting everything the original contractor had done.My question is, should I pursue some sort of legal action or just never get into contact with said contractor again?

I have restrictions on both that do not allow any sort of "vacation rentals" and a minimum 6 month lease requirement.

Whether or not you'll be able to lower your current living expenses by househacking will depend on:- the type of property- property taxes - which are relatively low in BK compared to other counties- down payment- projected incomeThat said, househacking in NYC is totally doable and most first-time househackers find success in located small multifamily properties (2-4 units) preferably with some sort of additional income potential (i.e.