If the property has landscaping in place make sure it is cleaned up then add fresh mulch and some potted plants in a complimentary color scheme to the house color scheme to the house.† Go for balance with some around a tree or spaced across the front of the house then some on either side of the front porch or door and one inside where you have people sign in.† You don't spend a lot of time, effort, or money but you get a very nice result.† Depending on the yard you might add some decorative wind chimes to the trees or bird houses or other cute extra to make people have a little "ah moment" that makes your property stick in their mind.The next area you want to address is creative marketing.† Invite all the neighborhood residents to an invitation only presale open house party.Have simple finger foods and if it is a neighborhood with many young children you might put a toy box with little gift bags for the children in the room most likely to be for a young child.† If the neighborhood has more tweens and teens you might set up a game system in one room that will stay with the house.† Many times a neighbor will know someone who would like to live in their neighborhood.When you do hold an open house go the extra mile to make it stand out.† Make your sign post at least 36†high so it stands above the rest.† You might also go to a party store and get a cardboard figure and put it behind the sign so it looks like it is holding it.† You could put individually† wrapped soaps in a pretty dish in the bathroom with a little complimentary sign.† Have snacks available, have a drawing for a prize, just use your imagination and have fun with it.† The goal is that people feel comfortable and want to live in this house.If you are a wholesaler the banks are one of your biggest competitors right now.You normally buy extremely low and sell low without doing a thing to the property.† In order to maximize your profits and keep a quick turn around right now you need to stand out from all the other distressed properties flooding the market.† Now is the time for the two hour rule.† As soon as you get the property clear as much junk out of the yard and clean as much of the interior as you can in two hours.† If you pay four people $50 each for two hours your property will be that much ahead of the other wholesale properties and that $200 you spent can make you a few extra thousand on the deal.† Perhaps you even throw in a $50 gas card for the buyer or a Home Depot gift card.† Small gestures can make a big difference during a soft market.Another strategy is to target a group with specific needs and create a plan for them.† One example is student housing.† In Atlanta, Home Park was for a long time a place where Georgia Tech students could rent cheap houses near the university.† When Atlantic Station was built it changed the area to a much more expensive and more owner occupied area.† There is still a need for reasonably priced student housing but the closest area to campus where that is available is not exactly where a mother would feel good about dropping their freshman student off.† In this case, the city wants to renew the area and developer incentives are available but you see brand new homes standing vacant and vandalized next to not so new homes boarded up.† You have multiple needs here, available properties but fear of trail blazing in a marginal neighborhood.† In this case, you could identify available properties and incentives then go to your local investment group or online investment group and do simultaneous investing.† If you were to get fifty investors to buy and rehab at least two homes each and you all do it at the same time you can turn a neighborhood around in a very short period of time.† If you could rehab one hundred homes in a ten block area all at the same time you will have made money, provided a needed commodity and helped the neighborhood residents all at once.† It is a win-win-win situation.Of course there are other groups such as artists that need low overhead and space to live and work.† They might not need hardwood floors throughout; they might be more interested in a large room with a utility sink, or a photo studio in a converted garage that you could do advertising photos of large objects in.Find out who needs what in your market area and find a way to provide it.† If you address needs while solving problems you can get ahead even in a soft market.

Some individuals are having a difficult time.During the real estate boom there were still people not doing so well.This is because they made bad decisions and are suffering the consequences of living too high on the hog during the boom.This is the kind of economy that will create many millionaires, take advantage of this time because there is plenty of money to go around.This is just a natural thing in the economy.It is called a correction in the stock market.If you believe the doom and gloom of the media your doomed anyway.Our economy is the strongest in the world period.The question I have Is there food on your table a roof over your heads and cloths on your back.Hmmmm I guess your not so bad off.You just have to give up a couple of luxuries.Maybe you can;t afford that new model of 10,000 inch plasma screen TV oh well.If you have the neccesities and your family there is nothing to complain about.My wife is filipina and i have been to the philippines.

It's an acrylic tub and the stains are spread over an area 8 inches by 8 inches and the rest of the tub is perfect.

Is is very easy to reduce or eliminate expesnses as well as risk when renting out a property.As investors we should always be looking into ways to eliminate risk as well as expenses.The first is to find a great not a good attorney a great one to handle evictions.When renting out cover your risks up front with huge deposits.don't rent to anyone your not 100 percent sure will care for the home and at the first sign of nonpayment of rent or not caring for the property give notice follow the rules and evict.If you give an inch to renters they will take a mile.You must not tolerate anything from your renters they are like small childern or puppies, always testing to see what they can get away with.If you let your puppy pee on the rug without punishment then it will get worse every time he gets away with it.If your renter is late serve a three day pay or quit immediately do not delay a minute......show them your serious about following the law and that you know what your doing.

But what if the one that closed yesterday included an upgrade to granite counters at the builders expense, $7,500 in closing costs, a rate buy down of 1 pt, and most importantly, a 60 inch hi-def in the living room?

This house has at least two 36 X 72 inch windows in EVERY ROOM!

Plus, back then, wood really measured an actual inch, or whatever, as opposed to today, making carpentry more challenging.

Inch by inch it's a cinch.

----------------------------------------------------------------------RE: Being AudaciousWilliam Tingle (Sub2 Teacher) said, "I WEAR A 5 inch diameter Yellow button w black letters that says:I BUY HOUSES FAST!"

CO2 and smoke detectors have to be in so many places, so many feet from a bedroom and within a certain amount of inches from where the ceiling meets the wall.