Three weeks later the Army Core of Engineers latest report was issued and the property was now in the FLOOD WAY - rendering the property virtually WORTHLESS.

I find that I'm feel like I'm constantly "wasting time" if I'm not on the edge of burning out while grinding out the todo list.My best advice for you is to relax (good luck with that) for a while until you get comfortable with your new world, sit down and paint the new dream/ set the new goal post. 

But, as I don't want to reinvent the wheel, I'm trying to find out what else is out there, and what it does.Here's my resume in brief:A.S. in CAD 1986CAD work and Road & Bridge InspectorWorked in most of the trades at one time or anotherB.S. in Construction Science & Management from Kansas State UniversitySuperintending, Project Engineering, Project Coordinator, Project Manager, Estimating and being my own GCI've rehabbed over 100 houses, most for someone else, but a few of my own5 yrs Building Inspector and Code ConsultantThanks you for your time and any help you might offer!

I am a Systems Engineer in IT for a large corporation and my wife works as a Sales Engineer for an Oil & Gas service company. 

I work as an engineer full time but I want to build a real estate portfolio of rental properties.

Im at the point of negotiating, from other experiences, is it worth paying $750 for a structural engineer to come out, or just to have a specialized contractor come out to provide the proposal for repair?

Last thing we want to see is another investor burned in a deal, had a contractor bounce on them after payment, etc. 

(did I just make any sense or did my engineering spreadsheet brain just take over my typing for a second and ramble?)

Too many people try out of State investing here without a good team on the ground and get burned. 

Learn for 18 hours a day, burn the candle on both ends, and learn where you want to invest.