I blew out my poor BMW X3 engine last week with all this driving back and forth and it has hit me for a while that there has to be a better way! 

I think a good approach is to figure out what you're comfortable paying monthly and then reverse engineer an offer based on that. 30 years at 8.5% is about the same monthly payment as 20 years at 6.5%.Other than that make sure all the same protections are built into the mortgage.

For perspective, I've seen Architects in San Diego and Los Angeles charge minimum $15,000 for feasibility studies for similar mid-rise apartment buildings (I'm a structural engineer).

Kwon, I am a strutural engineer in Los Angeles so I can give you an idea on new construction costs.You can expect to pay $150/SF (square foot) on the low end and upwards of $400/SF+ on the high end. 

Here's my cost breakdown:Architect + structural engineer$ 7,000Park fee$ 4,450School fee$ 2,192Permit application$ 2,653Permit Issuance$ 9,416Contractor (estimated)$ 170,000Inspections (estimated)$ 4,000Landscaping and other miscellaneous$ 300Total (estimated)$ 200,011 Let me know if you need referrals for contractors. 

Greetings everyone, I am a young engineer, recent college grad with a financial freedom mindset.

I moved to Phoenix,AZ (Tempe actually) from California just over a year ago for the engineering job of my dreams, deciding to rent an apt until I get familiar enough with the market to consider buying.Since then I’ve been working on reading and learning as much as possible while building a healthy savings and found myself most interested in a Multifamily duplex where I can rent one unit and live in the other.

Would you be nervous buying a house with horizontal cracks in the foundation if a structural engineer says the way is sound and gives their backing to that assessment?

My passion is in helping investors like yourself reach their goals through providing a powerful cash flow strategy; engineering-based cost segregation.Typically for every $1MM in cost basis my firm and I can free up 7-10% in cash flow for you.

I would start with a call to a structural engineer, some firms have engineers on staff good at the forensic side of engineering.