I also have a 6 figure W2 job as an engineer for Boeing with a baby on the way so I'm not quite ready to make real estate my full time job yet, but eventually that is the plan.

@Shiwei Wang education is the key... get clear about your goals then reverse engineer with someone who has done it

About 5 years ago, every time I'd go home for holidays or whatever Id noticed a gentrification in a town neighboring my hometown and decided to go for it, a fairly complicated one for a newbie with a hard money loan, two duplexes, one condemned needing structural engineers, to make it simpler I demolished it (dealt with asbestos siding) and refinanced with local credit union.

@Christopher CurrallIf this is LA City the engineers, if paying attention, will ask for a 12" depth.

He's a General Contractor and Civil Engineer.

If you hear a terminology you don't understand, try to look it up yourself, or if they're going over figures, see if you can reverse engineer & arrive at those numbers doing your own calculations. 

I'm not at all experienced in structural engineering.

We need recommendations on the best way to tackle this project, do we need to hire a structural engineer or will an architect suffice (if needed typical price? 

Is there a better way than typical real estate search engine?

The #s: Mortgage on the home, escrow - $800 total - ($177 of that goes toward principal if relevant)                            Estimated rent - $1200             Current fixed interest rate on the 30year note - 4.625%            Home has $12k in principal paid, with a $26k down payment + added equity totaling approx $63k before closing costs, so I assume I would pocket around $54k after selling (fsbo #s) A structural engineer inspected & recommended that if I want to sell the home, I should have 13 piers replaced costing $7200 but long story short I think it's more of a precaution & would not have this done if keeping as rental.