Primarily, my work has been in small commercial retail buildings (new construction and tenant improvements) with some work in single and multi family projects. 

Try reaching out to the Thornton Planning Department for any documentation they might have on file.Check Legal Precedents: Look for similar cases in your area.

I’ve had several investor clients go with a new (to me)/ unproven lender because of a slightly lower rate promise only to get burned by that lender (closing costs were higher, appraisal costs much higher and appraisal was a nightmare, main point of contact gave us the clear to close as we passed our financing contingency then just before closing someone from the underwriting department we previously didn’t know existed said we need a few more days and seller didn’t agree because they had a higher backup offer, jeopardizing the earnest money and losing the property, etc).

@Kevin SobiloEach month the Department is required by State law to compute and announce the ceiling rate on residential mortgages in this Commonwealth.

Do the refinery workers have a union or a company HR department that can be reached to advertise to directly?

My objective is to buy about an acre of land, that is already leveled, access is being done, and utilities are going to be 5 feet from the property; and then build 3-4 shell retail spots on my plot, owner occupy one of them with a business and lease out the others.I am meeting with a developer this weekend, but have some wrong numbers regarding the average cost of building a shell space. 

Yup just go north up to New Castle area you can find vacant homes in that area for 40 to 60k no problem I have funded probably 50 of them or more.. some were retail flips ( got paid off on two on Friday actually) and a lot of them are bRRR. 

Any suggestions would help please Colorado Springs has some weird regulations about this depending on which county it's located in so be sure to check in with the planning department in the specific county you're looking at.

Some police departments allow off their duty officers to be hired for security jobs.

many houses in the midwest, for example, are very old and need major rehabs.i personally think out of state investing is more difficult than advertised, and much more difficult in the current investing environment, with: prices high; interest rates high; tremendous demand for inventory, by both investors and retail buyers; and good PMs, contractors, etc. booked up.here's a really thoughtful thread with the experience of another CA investor and lots of different responses:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1215726-break...and here are some threads about how it can very easily go wrong:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1159104-overl...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1160450-run-i...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...finally, you also said you "don't have a lot of money to start with."