Hi, I'm a new money investor in RE trying to make some money and learn how the process goes.My partner and I are engineers with good enough salaries, and were thinking about making an investment on a 400k property in NC.I'd be a semi-silent investor: 80k down, negotiating the mortgage (it might be in my name only) and with contractors (but not actually sourcing and managing them).He would be covering all of the rest: 10k down, finding the deal, property manager, selling etc..We are both inexperienced but very motivated and data-driven doing a good amount of research (10+h/week for the past 6 months)The proposed split isequity: 70 (money investor, me)/30% operating (after recouping initial investment) cash flow: 50/50% after operating expenses. 

That being said, I also happen to be an engineer so putzing around with numbers and spreadsheets is really much more second nature to me. 

The county engineer that seems to be in charge of the road widening near my house.

Just suppose you engineered a deal that gave you 100% leverage with possession and time to assign?

@Brad Haughton  Although not in the same domain, there is a design principle called "Separation of concern" in the world of software engineering.

But an architect and/or engineer is going to be your safest bet.  

Knowing that 203K is slow to pay out sums I would use my own money and just get reimbursed by the bank so it moves faster* Buy a fix upper using a hard money loan and then do the BRRRR method knowing I have never done any substantial rehab but I do understand how to manage contractors since I am a Civil Engineer and work with them on a daily basis.   

I've done my due dil with search engines, but I was wondering if some smaller players could be more attractive and not necessarily visible on the web. 

The next step is to put a deposit down ($6K) with the contractor to kick off design, engineering plans for permitting, and financing.

Once you have the education, you can become a "transaction engineer."