I am a merchant marine, which gives me quite a bit of time off to work on REI projects.  

Marine working in my defense industry career which I have held for 12 years.  

Aha - that link is a winner! 

Anything that pays for itself will be a winner in the long run, in my opinion.

Lead paint plaintiffs were the winners and landlords were the loosers. 

You may not be completely comfortable with every detail but it should look like an overall winner.

After a tour in Fallujah with the Marines I needed a change of pace and moved to Austin to start a business which I was able to sell (there's an NDA involved, so I won't go into too much detail) for enough money to buy a house that was way too large for me.

We bought a house in Marin a few months ago, we had 5 contractors come out to bid on some minor kitchen work we wanted to do.The General contractor we chose seemed honest, trustworthy and came highly recommended.

Have the current lender get more accurate fees and I think you'll have a winner. 

Right now I'm driving for dollars in SF just south of the city, Marin County and parts of the East Bay.