.#2 Jacksonville, Florida Contrasted with a considerable lot of Florida's other huge urban areas, Jacksonville is a lot calmer and does not have the gigantic herds of tourist guests.

I can build an addition for about 120k that contains two "units" of 2bd/2.5ba each with lots of premium features (9.5' ceilings, acid-stained colorful concrete floors, radiant heating throughout, central air, LED lights, granite countertops, subway tile backsplash, carrara marble porcelain look-alike bathrooms, etc.)

Scott Scheel mentions that for bigger properties it is tough to get a good deal in markets that are already showing good indications of future growth (either already in the process of growing, or showing the "obvious" increases in population/job growth) He says the best deals are frequently found in weak or even declining markets where you have much better leverage with sellers.This is a risky proposition because real estate trends seem to last quite a while, but if timed correctly an investor can do much better than average by getting in early before the rest of the herd does.Do you guys have any ideas of how to anticipate a potential turnaround area before the census data refects it (IMO this data is a beacon to RE investors) I have a couple ideas I think may be worth looking into:-Projected inflow of large, new employer-New transportation artery-Unaccounted change (in census data) of demographics (undesirables moving out, nicer crowd moving in)-Perhaps a well structured conversation with someone at the economic planning department to find out how close to fruition some upcoming changes are taking place.

You cannot beat the market based just on a hunch, or through day-trading, or even by following the herd.

I'd be interested in this too The are a bunch of 'stairless ranches' here in Milwaukee, and I have thought adding radiant floor heating may be a good way to heat.

It's very hard to sustain that over and again in a heated market.If brokers/agents do not want to work for peanuts then increase your skill and knowledge level to stand out from the herd and work on larger deals.I have never understood WHY investors buying junker houses expect brokers/agents to get all excited about submitting 50 low ball offers and becoming the laughing stock of your profession to make one sale of 1,500 commission.

Some of it is greed, but mostly it's just herd mentality.

Once the herd starts to move the end id near.Now don't get me wrong there are many people making big bucks off of real estate, and it is the only real investment out there.

However, like @Mark Sewell brings up, the best thing to do is to run in herds... so with the time I have between now and being cash ready, there is plenty of time for me to meet people who have experience with contractors and realtors in the local area.

It is much more hands on.Get it right and you can succeed, follow the herd and you probably won't.