But I don't believe your goals align with that.

In alignment with other postings on this thread, they are saying they not taking business and they are scheduled out for 6+ months, but the moment you demonstrate you are serious and you're willing to pay for the estimate and/or the project is more likely, they remember they can squeeze you into their schedule, somehow.

I looked at a few properties in Hopewell and always seemed to never get the stars to align.

The stars will never align.

my thought process is probably not aligned with most.. but if I had big debt I would find a job that your income is not regulated... and that is SALES ... if real estate interest you I would start selling real estate in the seattle area.. a great agent can soon be making 200 to 500k a year no problem and then your pay debt... and then save money then start to invest.. at least in this part of the cycle and in the market your in... rental for wealth are much harder in high dollar metro areas cost to play is real and not as many opps to buy deals like in many other parts of the country were there is an over supply of homes and or semi unsophisticated owner sellers.

The challenge is making sure they are aligned with your values and your business model.

Find a partner who aligns well with your core values and pushes you to be better.

What you're saying is in alignment with what I've seen, even though you're looking at a slightly different market segment.

They are NOT cheap, so these questions will help you make sure the group aligns with your own goals. 

Seems that Ray believes our debt crises is more closely aligned with that of 1935-1940 rather than 2008 (at least as I understood it).