Before the backhoe business (which is going to be expensive) consider running a camera down the line starting from the clean out to determine any issues with tree roots. 

I will be following and rooting you on friend.

If you are trying invest out of state close to your roots here in central Illinois I can definitely help you develop a solid plan going forward.

This let's me know which ones I can root out from the start. 

@Noah Jacobson I work with between 10-15 buyers per month and most of them are first-time buyers so I hear this a lot and your concerns are both common and have some small roots in reality. 

I made sure that the apartment had all new copper plumbing above ground, but not under ground and that is where the problem ended up being.First thing you want to do is remove all trees, roots getting into the sewer system, finally there are not as many plumbing problems.

And to me its rooted in MLM  Amway type pitch's.. that all said most agents can learn everything they need to know just going to their office meetings and interacting with the top agents.

(In reality you both will be sued, but your contractor's insurance should bear the bulk of the burden if the root cause was all your contractor's fault.

There are so many variables regarding scope of work and project specifics that any proclamations of overpricing or greed on PM/ contractor part are rooted in ignorance.

@Buyan Thyagarajan I would say the biggest thing to look out for is water, structural damage, or any roots coming in to the basement through a tree.