I wonder about the cost and benefit of less extreme makeovers versus doing it completely.The more air sealing the better! 

An able body tenant may not like the look. 

hi everybody,my name is elisha mcginley, and i'm a new member. i really don't know where to begin, so i suppose i'll tell you about who i am and what my goals are. i grew up very poor. i was homeless for the first time before i started elementary school, and have been homeless a few times since. my childhood was pretty unstable. when i was 17, i moved into my first apartment. i worked a grueling job for $4.15 an hour, 35 hours a week, and continued to go to high school, but i eventually dropped out with the realization that having a roof over my head and food to eat was the most imperative thing in my life. i'm not telling you this to pull your heart strings, but to express my gratitude: because of my experiences, i earned an insatiable desire to find a home... not just a house, but a real home. i also learned a lot about human nature and how much potential i had to succeed with a stacked deck in life. i began having health issues in my mid teens, which resulted in surgery and being told i couldn't have kids, but i proved that hypothesis wrong when i had my first son at 21. when i found out i was pregnant, i immediately got my ged, because i knew i couldn't provide for my son working at gas stations and fast food restaurants. when i was 24 i separated from my husband, decided to go to college for architecture(so i could build my own home), and fell in love with someone else. soon after my first year in school, i had my second son, and found myself single again. i still consider myself very lucky, because no matter my relationship with either dad, both of them are very devoted fathers, and we are all able to coparent in the best interest of my kids. however, architecture school demanded complete devotion, and being a mom was more important to me, so i left my dream behind. a year or two later, i went to school for auto cadd, with the hopes of staying in the field of architecture, but i added mechanical cadd to the mix, just to widen my scope. i worked full time during the day at a college text book store, and went to class four hours a night, four days a week, until i was laid off. i was half way through school when i landed my first professional job as an electrical drafter. i graduated with a 3.8 gpa and a great job that i loved. i bought a 5 bedroom house, and i was content to just keep plugging away, working hard and kicking butt. then, our contract with the military was awarded to another aeronautic company, and i was laid off again. it didn't stop me, though. i laid low and stayed broke for about a year until i landed my current job as a technical writer. my starting pay was $10,000 a year less than my previous job, but the economy wasn't the best, and i was just glad to be back in the saddle. i don't love my job as much as my last job, but it is a good job, it has its benefits, and i'm almost back to the income i had become accustomed to. i still consider myself blessed. hey, i have come from poverty to being a single mom(no child support, alimony, or even child tax credits- it's all me) with a 5 bedroom house in a nice neighborhood, a car that's paid off, an education that i paid off this year, and one credit card. i'd say that makes me pretty successful. but then, tragedy struck again. little more than a year ago, i began having health issues. i would randomly begin shaking and sweating and feeling dizzy and nauseated. my pulse would accelerate, and it was extremely uncomfortable. i went to the er and they told me i'd had a heart attack. after a month of wearing a heart monitor, i was relieved to hear i hadn't had a heart attack, but i have a mitral valve prolapse. but, it still didn't explain the weird attacks i was experiencing. after months of trying to figure out what was wrong with me, someone suggested i get tested to lyme, and what do you know- that's what it was. when i was first diagnosed, i was relieved. i was under the impression i only needed a round of antibiotics and *poof*, i would be magically cured. this was not the case. in fact, the treatment exacerbated my symptoms and presented new symptoms. that's when i learned about herxheimer reaction- "herxes". basically, lyme is a bacterial infection, and when the bacteria dies off, it released a mass amount of toxins that the(already compromised) immune system just can't process. think about cancer treatments- they aren't pleasant. without spending too much time on the subject, chronic lyme can not be cured, but it can be put into remission. it effects every organ and system in the body(my mitral valve prolapse is a symptom- yeah, symptom of lyme). it can even get in the spinal fluid and the bones. the range of symptoms is unbelievable. i thought i was going to die. i've never hurt so bad in my life. but, it woke me up. i had been willing to settle for plugging away as a technical writer, slowly paying my debts until retirement, but that scenario no longer works for me. nothing brings you back to reality quicker than realizing your own mortality. i'm not afraid to die, but i'm worried for the mess i could be leaving behind for my kids. i know something has to change. i'm still sick, but i had to stop the treatment to get back to work. i have become even more motivated to make a lasting change. i want to be able to afford the time and money needed to get into remission, but at the very worst, i want to be debt free before i kick it. and suddenly, a few days ago, it occurred to me that i could become a real estate investor with little or no money. what do you do when life gives you lyme?

Hi Friends @Deanna McCormick, @Darren Sager, Account Closed one correction, I was reading last lease I got from landlord, however no body signed it.it says "30 Days" notice, so it's not 1 month,this mean I can give notice on Nov 4th and , vacate on Dec 4th, so I don't have to pay rent for entire month of December...right?

With Google's ever changing indexing tools, SEO is now DOA - - doesn't add any value.All the things that were true two years ago, change last year and again this year - - it's impossible to keep up.In SEO, there were all kinds of rules on the page title, use of H1,H2,.. tags, first paragraph text, body text must have contents of meta keywords - -all history today. 

Keep paragraphs short- indent, make it easy top read- use the easiest font to read min 12 point font- serif font   Use bullets that are Easy to read               Nice and Large Body that looks appealing and Easy to read- CLEAN         Keep the message focused on the points at hand- BE CLEAR           Repeat the main point in different ways so that the message sinks in                           Offer proof with scientific data or testimonial and or some kind of Guarantee that they will not lose anything   Use testimonials- present proof that others have used                           SENSE OF URGENCY- if they don’t respond- thye will suffer a loss- money prestige or opportunity     Irresitable offer with a limited time to call           They need to call RIGHT NOW if they put that letter DOWN- they are not calling                       FEEL OF THE LETTER- enthusiasm-the "Main Idea tha tyou are pssionate about the letter needs to come off the letter   We care- what is the feeling that we impart into our product or service       What is your big idea, that you feel compelled to tell people abouit and that enthusiasm is what breathes life into the letter The letter is your one-on-one sales person           what is it that we love about what we do and makes us standout from the competitoin.    

When taxing bodies pick the RETSL route, they must go through the Tax Claim Bureau of their county.

Or should I continue working at my job at a body shop and learn that business but my actual goal in life is to get into real estate.

If you are interested in and good at managing projects you can work your way into more of a business role and depending on the industry get a PMP certification (coming from IT and government management you can definitely make over $100k).

Making mailings is one way to find good deals, but the return on a mailing is very low and expensive.Doing a mailing campaign is a passive way to market for deals - If you want to accelerate your potential to make money in this business, I would suggest using active marketing ---Farming - looking for vacant, ugly houses - tracking down the sellers - make an offerSit in your local rent and housing court - no body wants to be there - great place to find burned out landlords who will be glad to discount their property to youExpired listing - these are sellers who have a property that did not sell - you can make their dream of selling a realality and profit at the same timeRather than licking stamps, designing silly yellow letters or post cards, stuffing envelops, buying postage, running to the post office or sitting home waiting for the phone to ring -- you'd be lot more successful by entering your market and doing peo-active marketing for the gold nuggets you are seeking.