You need enough reserve funds to carry you while you wait to sell completed properties and for unexpected items that crop up during a rehab.You also need to establish relationships with Hard Money rehab lenders to finance your deals.

A knowledgeable listing agent who has done their homework, and has a great relationship with the Asset Manager 2.

And when people like Carlton S. teaches you to screw around with someones negotiated "work" contract, and you do it, that proves that you certainly fall within that description.This type of tactic almost never works to reduce the agents commission, but it can put a strain on the relationship between the agent and their client, potentially ending what could have been a long-term business relationship.Beachbum,YOU CAN MAKE MONEY IN THIS BUSINESS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING TO DO DAMAGE TO THOSE THAT YOU DO BUSINESS WITH.

Since we've had a historic runup of prices, I believe that he is exactly right.Mike

I am guessing the upside to Western Washington is that appreciation rates are historically better than those in OH?

Our cost of living has risen dramatically in the past 10 years.My wife and I own an historic Tudor home on Prospect Avenue in one of the five nationally recognized historic districts in the city.

Buying "historic capecod, cottage, and foursquare urban homes may or may not be a good idea.

Obviously, in terms of the "Big Picture" there has been a crisis of secondary market confidence with regard to the enormous increase in borrower delinquencies and pending or actual forecclosures which has led to a major culling of the ranks of wholesale mortgage lenders... now probably close to 125 lenders who have closed up shop within the past 5-6 months.Actually, many of those lenders were little more than "Super Brokers" in that they relied upon warehouse credit lines or correspondent relationships with "Big Brother' lenders.It's somewhat analagous to our belief in the notion that a $100 bill is actually worth $100.

Do laws protect the tenants differently than a normal landlord/tenant relationship would?

I'm looking to continue to invest in this area and I want to establish a relationship with a good lender.