My job also requires me to know the areas.I have two children of my own so I understand what you are saying when referring to making sure you move to a good neighborhood.It all depends on what type of home you desire to live in.

This is a job.

Winning half of Amazon’s HQ2 is no consolation prize — the news means 25,000 new jobs for the region, and many of them will command salaries on average of $150,000 per year.

This is our job description as "investor".   

As with everything, check references, past jobs, etc. 

I know great guys who are just overwhelmed, they don't return calls or texts because they're swamped and already have jobs lined up for the next 2-3 months.

You could lose this thing as Jay mentions... this was far more common coming out of the deep dark recession.. but now a days builders don't need to do this and if they need to do this means they are either long on jobs or short on capital.   

It also needs some other work and I am looking for a good contractor for the job.

It's beyond tough and when it get's beat up a cheap sand and poly job has them looking like new.

I plan on doing this with my long term friends they are all financially stable and have jobs and the income to support the move.