These houses can sell for a premium but as a GC I would recommend you watch the movie the money pit before really jumping into one of these projects.

She texted me the night before she was listing one on the MLS, and I put it under contract that Friday night in the movie theater (please don't hate me-- it was still the previews)  My wife was not impressed :)  Deal 8- Neworking/MLS. 

solution is simple, really. abide by all legal requirements for repair, and agreements you might have already made....and nothing else. be courteous, but forceful. ..recall the movie remember the titans?.."

I explain it like this... several years ago there was a movie call Sixth Sense, where the famous line was spoken, "I see dead people."  

Ok.... maybe not "exactly the same"  ;)If you haven't seen it, watch the movie 50/50.  

Eventually, that trickles down to all aspects in that local community.The areas getting the development in LA are communities you would have had wanted nothing to do with a couple decades ago.Here is a partial list.Venice was total crap... now 1 mil for teardown.Santa Monica downtown had a ***** cat movie theater with Debbie Does Dallas playing and low lifes roaming up the ying yang...now 1.5 mil for small regular house if you are lucky.Silverlake was gang invested...now pricey hipster central.Hollywood....I used to work at Sunset and Gower studios in the 80s and it was sketchy out on the streets...now nearest condos can be in the millions.Culver City was sketchyPlaya del rey was sketchyEl Segundo was sketchyEagle Rock was sketchyMelrose was sketchyWest Hollywood was sketchyParts of West LA were sketchyParts of Pasadena and South Pasadena were no picnic either....all of these areas for most normal suburb folks were off the table....not anymore, bring your checkbook and maybe a bulldozer. 

Put this in a script , and sell it to hollywood , it would make a intresting movie .

I make movies for the Marine Corps now, so if you are a REI in need of marketing help...

In just a few years time, NOLA has added a huge and new industry to our town...movie production. 

There was a humourous movie about a guy who bought a Paris apartment that gave the owner a life estate....he esentially waited decades for her to die so he could take possession....apparently a somewhat common type of transaction in Paris.