I graduated from school about two years ago and I'm currently an engineer for a glass manufacturing company in Cleveland, Ohio.  

Maybe they aren't into real estate but they started their own business or got an engineering degree and went to med school.It sounds like you would like to enjoy some things you could afford but that your friends cannot.  

He informed me I could call a private environmental consultant who could have it verified and mitigated or approved from the Army Corps of Engineering. 

Like I said it has some scary foundation stuff but I work with a couple structural engineers who aren't trying to sell piers (but have every incentive too) telling me that it's no biggie... just a veneer problem.

After running through the beginners guide and picking around a bit, BiggerPockets seems to be a treasure trove of information.I'm a 27 year old mechanical engineer who bought his first house in June (who am I kidding...

Many think they are engineers, architects, construction managers and skilled craftsmen and think they can charge accordingly, not IMO.

No offense Ali, though your education in engineering is very impressive, you don't have the experience in real estate to be an authority on all the markets in the country, and you haven't been through enough of the cycles to know how each area can be affected by various events.

My brother is a research engineer, not everyone can do that.  

The property is within walking distance (1-2 miles) from the major engineering hub of our area where approx. 3,500 people work, and is also 2 blocks off the highway that another approx. 8K people take to jobs on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

You can't, at 19, say RE is for you, I think if anyone said they selected their profession at 19 and stayed in that career for 40 years, they are probably full of it, few exceptions, doctors, attorneys, engineers or professions, but not in some career that requires no education.