$250,000 Should buy you a decent set up. What I would do if I was you since you are'nt going to be the engineer is find one first. A really good experienced one. Then have him help you build it. Keep in mind if you find someone who has gone to school for recording they will know what they need. They will know what rooms should be what and all that. My friend was a great engineer before he went to school for it and he helped build a pretty good studio with about $20,000. So I can imagine what someone experienced would do with the money your laying down.