Personal friend is a plumber and he uses a system of pressurizing the system and injecting liquid plastic to seal it all up - - 20 year warranttee.Here in our locale, slabs frequently crack due to soil expansion and when fixing one of these, we jack-hammer the interior and r/r all the plumbing at one time.

Matthew, it sounds like you have an "in demand" career right now, and one very important to the US economic system.

The court system in Santa Clara County (SCC) works.

Quick hypothetical question for Tax Pro's out there:If you have purchased a lot to build a home on, when does the one-year clock start to switch from short term to long term capital gains?

Probably not as lucrative revenue wise, but the tenant situation could be more stable because of the nature of the rental.All a lot to process - I like you insight of you usually end up trading one for another (specifically return for ease of tenant management.)

I currently work as a mechanical engineer designing HVAC systems for commercial projects, however, that is not how I would like to describe myself. 

So your purpose may be to create systems and processes to overcome challenges your company faces.

The big ticket items in Atlanta when something goes wrong tend to be water in the basement or crawlspace or having to dig up the septic system.    

Call the county and they should already have system in place to follow for any dispute.

I have a lot to consider and again, I really appreciate your input!