@Anthony AngottiGlad to see you chipped in here, Anthony, with your been-there, done-that perspective on this.

Just sit back drinking your PBR while eating potato chips and watching your peers acting like idiots on Jerry Springer (maybe you can get on that show someday).There is one thing you do need – the $5,000, 8 CD set that will tell you all the secrets that big investors don’t want you to know.

Some bank products will allow for "deferred maintenance credits" where you can chip away at the down payment required by the buyer.

In my home country it is laminate all the way,and you don't have to replace it like carpet so often.But installation is the key, if contractor doesn't do a good job, it looks really cheap and chips easily.

turn around and resale tough.But many of the folks on BP are new to this business starting their first funds etc etc and the investors are making their first investment... so its good to put a little reality in this instead of blue sky like these are some kind of blue chip investment that they just make and they are going to make 30% returns as a passive investor. 

It takes a large amount of long term dedication...slowly chipping away until you establish yourself and breakthrough with a successful business. 

I have 100k to invest, and the following is how my money is currently invested:25k in retirement plans (12.5k in low-fee mutual fund and 12.5k Roth IRA - blue-chip company)25k in stocks - all blue-chip stocks that yield at least 3% dividend50k in cashAs for my current situation, I am a 27 year old single male.

Return Targets: 2 - 2.5x in 5 to 7 years with conservative underlying leverage to reduce downside risk.Happy to count our respective chips in 5 years and see who did better. :)

We have our own everything...from potato chips to coffee to spice blends...and it's hard to live without it.

As Amber mentioned, I like the fact that there are a lot of blue chip companies that are in the Twin Cities.