One of the things that can tank your budget quick, fast and in a hurry are mechanical or plumbing issues.  

I'm 29 and a mechanical engineer by trade and I'm looking for another income stream to pad my retirement assets.  

Work as a mechanic or contractor in the trades ... get creative however you need to (on the income side, not the financing side), but figure out how to get your income up to raise capital and look more appealing to a bank, and as a bonus you will learn a lot that will help you as an investor in the process.

The 50% was a good ball park but I would use a different mechanism for elevulating this deal.

I am a Mechanical Engineering student at Auburn so if your interested we could possibly share learning resources and help each other learn and become successful together!

We waited the entire redemption period to take possession of the property. 5 days before the redemption period expired an investor put a mechanics lien on the property so he could redeem it.

In other words, if you already hired the guy, and he already did the work, you're more or less stuck paying the bill unless you want a mechanic's lien on your property.You've probably already learned this lesson, but in the future, at the very minimum have a detailed conversation with the contractor about what will be included for what price.

He is currently a civil engineering junior at Georgia Tech and looking for opportunities in both civil and mechanical engineering.

.- $20 electricity is for the mechanical room that is about 8 x 5.  

Great mechanicals.  2-3 shingles damaged from the storm this last fall.