I had a typo in my previous comment when I meant to say I buy $100k+ properties, not $100+ homes.Anyway, by moving into the properties for a year I am able to capture owner-occupant mortgage rates which has shaved about 0.5% on the mortgages.

I may shave off 5 years from my "retirement" ah to be out of a cube by 29...

I might be able to shave a thousand dollars here and there, but I can easily spend extra since this would be the largest project I have yet to take on.

They are considered the cream of the crop in urban areas where residents' employment tends to be not as secure as suburban areas.

This is really common in our area where post-war 2/1/1's have been converted into 3/1s.

I just found a new drywaller that shaved by rocking budget in half!

Replace it in the pack for the next smoke.And, if someone falls asleep, put some shaving cream in their hand, then tickle their nose.

Most of the units he paints haven't been done by us, so we do two tone (bright white semi gloss trim, coffee colored or cream colored walls) and lots of spackling, filling, caulking, etc.

Concrete is porous and is usually capped with a cement layer (top 1/8") that concrete contractors call the cream layer.

There are no easy answers as prices are high just about everywhere you look and you will get no free lunch ... sorry if that's a downer, but I'm just not that into selling fairy tale dreams of puppy dogs and ice cream looking through rose colored glasses ... plenty others around here that would be happy to do that, though :)