Lenders are conservative by nature, borrowers are aggressive.

If it is too old you will not be able to collect for it as they will say it is natural wear and tear and that it needs to be replaced anyways.

Understandable, Bienes Raices but you could always upload a photo from a distance or a nice nature photo :) Anything to keep me from staring that that mysterious man with the giant dollar sign all day!

Avi, there is a lot to know about when it comes to rehabbing but I will cover a few of the most basic mistakes new rehabbers make, although it sounds like you have some real estate investing experience so hopefully you can avoid these:1) Overestimating ARV (after repair value): it is human nature to be optimistic and look at the best case scenario, but you have to be realistic when analyzing the end sale price of a property.

They put in bulbs that I really like that seem like natural daylight.No charge, part of an energy saving program.

Hope this helps.I've been doing a lot of research on this the past year, and this is what I've found (I could be wrong of course):Material prices aren't too much different around the country if you shop around for suppliers (there are differences in areas where shipping is more difficult and costly), and labor prices are surprisingly consistent (though there is a range of about 25-35%) if you ignore the high priced areas.Obviously, there will be regional differences in both labor and materials (especially in places where climate, soil and natural conditions impact building codes), but if you ignore places like NY, NJ, California, etc, you'll find that prices generally fall within 25-50%.I see you're in NJ, so you can probably throw the prices I mention out the window, but for a surprisingly large % of the country (especially between the coasts), prices will be pretty consistent within a 25-35% range.All that said, this is a topic I'm very interested in, and would love other data points, as I could be wrong

Retail natural gas has been good and I'd think retail heating oil in the north would be okay.Don't do much stock anymore, seems like industrial robotics will be good and R&D in medical robotics.

Right now If I was to buy anything publically traded it might be energy, Specifically oil and natural gas for the long haul.

I have lots of friends and family there and let's face it, it is absolutely beautiful once you get out into the nature.

I am trying to let that transition happen naturally and not force the issue.