I was at a guru event a few years back ( invited guest non paying)  and the celebrity investor guru was the husband and wife team of Flip Vegas.. so they get on stage to do Q and A  and of course everyone wants to know how they did it etc.. when in fact they get paid millions to just be the face and show up..

We play basketball, watch a lot of TV, and will buy products endorsed by celebrities.

After some negotiating, we got it under contract at $240k, and celebrated on the contract signing date, because I knew we just made money....We negotiated another $2500 off the contract price to help replace the electric panel and closed at 237,500 with 3.5% down, FHA...In the next year we put about $30k into the house including the following improvements10mm laminate flooring throughoutcomplete remodel of master bathpartial remodel of guest bathnew panelnew ACnew paint inside and outminor roof repaircouple new windowssome new appliancesnew drivewaynew front landscapingI know it's important to have an exact figure...in that 30k I'm rolling some furnishings and fixtures into it..I forgot to mention we also have a large yard, and no immediate neighbors behind us..great lot in this neighborhood. 

I will be 36 on thursday and am celebrating by making the necessary moves to get started on my road to debt free status and financial freedom.

So I've got a controversial topic to throw out to the BP community. 

The really, really rough (never use this on your tax returns... but it is a good way to impress your friends at cocktail parties) is to just take 3% of the purchase price to estimate your gross depreciation for the year.Then--and this is controversial since I am mixing pre-tax and post-tax returns--multiply your gross depreciation by your effective tax rate.

It's a delayed gratification move - solid wealth building.Be sure to reward yourselves in a small way so you celebrate your progress.

As we continue to pursue investment opportunities, it is important to reflect and celebrate significant victories like this.Our investment team was able to identify this project and the potential it had as an investment; the construction team completed this project efficiently and beautifully.

This is just what we need - washed up D-list "celebrities" getting into the guru game. 

BP is only REI place I know where rising real estate prices are a bad thing and where bad economic news is celebrated.