Tons of rail, tankers, important air hubs, accessible to eastern markets via the gulf, incredibly low energy costs, balanced environmental.  

I feel a little self conscious posting such a long post, but hopefully it helps some of you.  

My wife and I have found the key to our success as we got started was to live far below our means - not top ramen - but very conscious of spending and saving to reach our goals.

On a standard triple decker - converting everything cost about $2k.http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/environmental/s...Hope that's helpful!!

We have an environmental testing vendor that will test your space for mold, asbestos, lead for $500-$700 if you want to do that before you call out remediation vendors.

The extra costs might be a lot or little depending on local environmental factors as well as how well the driveway is built.The upsides, as you aluded to, are more privacy and less noise.

There was a lesson to learn for my former landlord; wait until after your county approves drilling on your rental property before you lease the entire place out for just $10 for the next 5 years I take joy knowing that your property has a lifetime drilling restriction as you are to close to the river, who would even think that 200 feet from the Platt River would be a safe and environmental place to be drilling anyway.

The primary thing you need to focus on is whether the environmental engineer recommended no further action.

Environmental?

I really love the idea of building with less waste, and in a more environmentally efficient way, but ultimately it's also about cost and time.