Quite nicely finished on the inside from previous owner w/ tile floors, quartz countertops and stainless appliances.I am wondering if anyone has some estimates for how much an engineering study on this would cost, and what I could expect to save, given the purchase price?

There’s a level of trust in our supplier-contractor relationship, which I see as another layer of insulation in making a deal work with terms between him and I.

You should be able to go to your local lumber supplier and tell them you need framing lumber and they will set you up. 

For example, tile and laminate flooring.

People just has lot of equity, most RE transaction occured between 2010-2018 and all of them are doing fine by now.The very actual reason why we have a dip of real estate price between June 2022-Dec 2022, is not because of foreclosure/employment, but because there're too many FOMO supplier trying to catchup a bid.

If a tile guy told you that you had to replace an entire tile floor because two tiles cracked you'd laugh at him.

Sure enough there were several layers of tile, 2 layers of cedar & then we had to re-sheet the entire roof as the old 2inch thick pine slats were 2 inches apart.

., going from shingles to to clay tiles) used, if so it may be a betterment - NO the same grade shingle will be used, so again N/A.4) Was the work related to an enlargement of the building, if so it may be a betterment - NO, so again N/A.XX) Tentative Conclusion - this is NOT a BettermentRestoration Questions:1) If ONLY the outer roof covering (e.g., Shingles) were replaced, but NONE of the underlying roof system/s, it is NOT a restoration - this appears to be directly on point and appears to point strongly to expensing2) If any significant load-bearing elements (e.g., decking/sheathing) were replaced, then the entire cost is likely a restoration - NO load-bearing elements were implicated, so this is N/A.3) If more than 40% of the insulation layer was replaced, it may be a restoration - NO insulation will be implicated, so this is N/A4) Did the Taxpayer claim a retirement loss for any portion of the old roof - NO, so this should be N/A5) Was the roof work performed because of other capital improvements - NO, so this should be N/AXX) Tentative Conclusion - this is NOT a RestorationI need to read the regulation closely to fully verify the above, but it seems as if their is sufficient basis for taking the position that a simple reshingling (and no more), can be expensed and not captialized.

Tile is so old looking, Formica is worse.. 

Menards is your supplier.