I'm a (former) mechanical engineer, but real estate is my full time career now and I love it!

Getting the permit added about $1,500 because of the soils engineer.

This is not normally done so an engineer or a call to your city's B&S is the best advice.

There are probably engineering reports and evidence that the building is leaking and has water intrusion which is what prompted them to file suit.

There are more ways to engineer transactions than the 70% model @Brian Rudderow. 

I moved to the Northern Virginia area about a year ago for work (I'm a civil engineer).

Any input or advice on how to get the engine started from this position?

I planned on studying and going into some sort of engineering, mainly because of job security and being told often that is what I should do.

What I do is, I get their budget and tell them what can be done with that budget, sort of reverse engineer the budget and bring them to reality, I believe this is the best way a win-win situation can work.

My goal is to invest in buy and hold properties to build financial wealth while holding a full-time job (Mechanical Engineer).