I would be sure the agent you choose is specifically well versed in the neighborhood or town you are looking into, and make sure that you review all engineering, environmental (if applicable, and depending on depth of testing you do, commercial or residential, etc.) and inspection reports closely.

In doing so, I felt like I had just decreased my own liability in case of emergency, by demonstrating my safety-consciousness (which only comes up if something goes wrong, when the stakes become high). 

I was listening to the "The richest man in Babylon" on audiobook, it has to be the best book I've ever read(listened to) it expanded my consciousness and brought me better insights into success, I would give it a rank #1 This should be a primarily first read even before "rich dad poor dad"

A 30 year old HVAC system probably uses the "old" freon, which costs so much more due to government/environmental regulations put in place due to its harmfulness to the planet.

If you are looking to be more cost conscious, you could always find sub's that can do the work for you and that should save you some money.  

At minimum you will need to get a geotechnical engineer to look at your souls, an environmental engineer to perform a phase one assessment and a civil engineer to prepare a site plane.

That's from lending to environmental requirements, to required processes, to fees (which can kill a deal from mere inception).... 

I've done enough dissuading to ease my conscious regardless of what I do wind up doing.If I'm not missing anything in my numbers then I guess I'll need to figure out what it'll take to get the deal to work.

There are no environmental surveys for this property.

NHD, Environmental Report Phase One , Pest Report, Termite Clearance ,CLUE Report, Surveying.