I find his videos about the gambling guys to be particularly interesting.

both.. some nasty marketing companies came to your countries and really put a lot of your folks smack dab into the hood... 5 to 9% returns are realistic over that your gambling and your probably going to wish you had just bought close to home

My take on the appreciation question is that investing for appreciation amounts to speculation, and for that read "gambling".

It is still a gamble but a gamble that usually pays off to those that remember the cycle.

I suppose that is just part of the gamble of the game.

It is an area with over 300 days on sunshine per year, gateway to MANY National/State parks and 40 miles from Gambling or 100 miles to Vegas for fun.

But a chunk would need to into real estate.From a gambling perspective, the jackpot is big enough its actually a good bet to play.

The biggest gamble in this game is knowing the value of this prime real estate, understanding the cities objectives to convert the blighted area back to what it once was and should become again in the future.

We are still in early assessment and havent really compared places to places.. not quite sure whether cities like Lowell will be a gamble over some saturated markets like Medford / Somerville.... 

However, I foresee two problems with this; The loan could be called once you change title and, if you're mom ever starts binge drinking or gambling, there is no stopping her from writing checks against that HELOC and pulling more money out up to the limit.