All Forum Posts by: Andrea W.

I am signed up for "Mortgage News Daily" (http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/) daily interest rate reports because I'm considering a refinance. That group has been discussing Greece in relation to mortgage interest rates. Last week it looked like interest rates were bouncing higher and would stay that way, but if anything the event in Greece has slowed down this occurrence. 

Their daily posts are informative as to the way various finance experts view various political and economic activity in relation to interest rates.

I'm hoping interest rates will move slightly lower before I lock! Anyone who wants to provide a reason that this is foolish, please do. However, from what I understand, economic stability in US and in Europe were supposed to create a rise in interest rates, however things haven't turned out to be quite as stable as expected.

So this is really a "what not to do," but something to think about (Specific to NYC and rent control):

http://www.thenation.com/article/how-to-dump-tenants-and-make-a-fortune-2/

Also, would anyone dare to do this on floors? I want to paint some laminate floors with milk paint and then put a hard finish on them. All I have read says you can't put anything on laminate floors because nothing will stick.

I agree with the person who wants you to do a video - could you at least demonstrate on a piece of cardboard?

@Jessica K. ,  Did you go forward? I'm interested in doing something similar.

@Brandon Turner, It would be nice if you could find sometime to do a blog on investing in motel properties, whether running them as motels or not.

Any thoughts about the area around St. Jo's Children's Hospital, specifically north side? Is anyone aware of city development plans for that area?

Peter C. and James D. took the words out of my mouth! The only thing I would add is that you can better educate the tenants on how fans can reduce their electric bill etc. if you take a reasonable amount of time to study that issue yourself first.

If I were a tenant, having ceiling fans available would be a big plus to me.

Any MeetUps coming up?

I'm specifically looking for information on government and private development plans around the Tampa Bay area, anything from road-widenings to major planned construction, to see the direction in which various areas are headed.

... especially in California, Florida, New York and New Jersey. Also, affordable rental housing shortage in Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado and Utah, as well as California and Florida.

http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/05/01/more-americans-spending-at-least-half-their-pay-on-housing

Flora - The issues raised regarding SIPs were :

1) In Miami there were problems with building contractors not making the foundation slabs even enough for the SIPs. I talked to the Innova Eco company as well as an independent engineer, and it was confirmed that for slight slab unevenness adjustments can be made at the bottom tracks. (We are building on a pre-exisiting slab that is only slightly uneven. It's extremely level for something that's been there 50 years.)

2) Since you're dealing with pre-cut panels, you cannot make significant design changes after the panels are cut. (It is also possible to get panels that are not pre-cut, but diy cutting is probably not cost effective.)

3) Something about supporting SIP roof panels with numerous posts, but our engineer confirmed we would only need internal deep-footed supports approximately every 12 feet, which fits in with our building plan, which would require only 2 of these supports. The rest of the support system would involve roof beams or trusses. (You also don't have to use SIP roof panels with SIP construction.)

I would also note that the SIPs create a very tightly sealed structure, so you are going to want to provide active ventilation such as an energy recovery ventilator.