Do I have to suck it up and pay $1.50 per letter, or is using the home printer trick really that effective? 

I'm assuming you mean working in large bank's local branch arranging home loans for bank clients. 

Treat them like you'd treat anyone, and be ready for surprises they can't control, like deployments that are inconvenient for you, but unavoidable.Some military folks are heroes, some are scumbags and deadbeats, just like in any large group of people.

I just don't see how $50/ft2 is possible, even given your large square footage.I would also be super concerned with partnering with someone that has never GC'd a complete project like this before.

Also, they will run the heat in your house at 80 degrees all winter long, and when it gets too hot, they'll open a window instead of adjusting the temperature.You should account for a large amount of maintenance, or be prepared to fight them over the costs of the things that they damage.I bought my first property with cash out of my pocket, and an owner-held mortgage note.  

It is technically a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom house with a large basement.

For example, I have 3 rather large condos currently rented at $1350+1350+1250= $3950 per month that I could let go to a cash buyer for only $270k.  

I am a Mechanical Engineer with a large Oil & Gas company here in Denver.

As I travel, I need a means to receive wherever I am (email is easy, but fax was a problem).Client can fax to my number, it goes to the trustfax server and encrypted for privacy, then emailed to me where it arrives as a PDF (clean and readable)Outgoing, I create a PDF (doc & xls work but can change the formatting, whereas PDF is fixed), login, setup the coversheet details, attach my doc(s) and FAX it. 

First, very few insurance agents know how to structure this because they build the policies to pay them a large commissions, rather than max the benefits to you.