I am an engineer, you get the point...

If say someone wanted to develop a property and construct homes that had engineering built in to help withstand an earthquake -- what does this add to the cost?  

I have been pursing an engineering degree since I got out of the navy.

Immediately I had the guys stop the lifting process, reinforce the joists with two temporary walls and called the structural engineer. 

Its not something most folks just try to do on their own. but if this is a small project and you want to learn it seems like its small money.. buy the dirt for 60k and go talk with a land planner and civil engineer.. get pre app meetings with whatever government agency in the jurisdiction controls land division.. it can be a good learning experience for you.. and being this is such a small amount of money it could be good practice and one to get started on.. don't do it though if you can't afford to lose the money.I usually lose between 30 to 50k a year doing preliminary work on subdivisions that I end up not buying because you just don't know all the facts until you spend some money trying to engineer them and go through the process.

You can always use the free "background" tools to try and locate a number. http://www.findermind.com/free-people-search-engin...Don't be surprised if alot of the free sites try to get you to pay for a search.

Again a regional issue that might not pertain to you, just as an example a custom home we are getting ready to build will have 120k of sitework and engineered foundation work before a board is cut to frame.  

Doing reverse engineering, $85,000 + $8,000 = $93,000 so the ARV should be $143,076.  

I am an asset manager by trade, engineer by degree. 

I currently work as an engineer and enjoy the challenges it presents on a daily basis.