Cash, check, personal property, a boat, or a diamond ring would be examples of possible earnest deposits that might be used.

I bought a "diamond in the rough" personal residence in 2004, and sold it for $55k more in 2010, and no, I did not make any changes other than painting and carpeting.

you could probably find some more info on meetup.com.Around Boston I can tell you that you should get out to the Black Diamond meeting in Waltham.  

(Made up example: I like to put diamond plate on the walls because that stuff in indestructible.)

Local to you check out the Black Diamond meeting in Waltham and you can look into the Boston Area REIA in Medford.  

As you've probably seen, there's a wealth of free information here on BP in the forums and also the podcasts are great.I also recommend getting out to a local real estate investor group/association, such as the RI Real Estate Investors Group (rireig.com) or Black Diamond Real Estate Investors (blackdiamondrealestateinvestors.com).And of course if you have specific questions you're welcome to post them to the forums too :)

You may have found a diamond in the rough.  

You also want to check out the Black Diamond meeting in Waltham (2nd meeting in Worcester), which is next week.  

got it and my bad its Nauru tower singular..my buizz partner live over on the other side of Diamond head

It is a diamond in the rough and was way under valued, still alot of good deals now too.Short and medium view it has great rental and appreciation.