I did a wonderful job rehabbing a property that had historic value, turned out really sharp, but I lost my butt on it as an investment.2.

You need to be well-spoken and portray an image of someone who is teachable and sharp...The first lesson I offered to Jon is exactly that.  

Personally, I feel it is a strategy for those who are not too sharp with math, since you borrow the pre-tax money and repay with post-tax dollars.  

Well all of you are getting into pretty sharp detail about all this and honestly I'm struggling with a couple things. 1) I didn't see any end to a post that dictated anything with clarity in terms of making a purchase decision so it all seemed rather academic in nature, which is great but even with 2 degrees, about 10 minutes of that required a break from the material. 2) The discussion seemed to chase a lot of "what if" scenarios with expectations that current trends in recovering markets would be linear in that the heat will keep coming and something has to keep rising, either rents, price, rates etc.So, I may have a very different vantage point being here in the middle of the country, nearly all the posts were from either east or west coasts.

You may find a sharp pencil in the box with low overhead that charges $80 and you may dull crayons with fancy offices that charge $200 to make rent.

@Jessica Soares - Booker has done alot for Newark - however he basically followed the floor plan created by Sharpe James (the Mayor prior to Booker for those who don't know) as far as revitalization goes imo.

Speaking of pics, you should get a new sharp pic uploaded -- looking a little fuzzy there . . . lets see what you REALLY look like!

She will butcher it.I don't want my tenants putting sharp objects like scissors anywhere near my head. :)

You clearly are a sharp fellow and you will catch on quickly.

Some VERY sharp people on this board.