<g>And why not pull this keep-the-security trick?  

we are courtney and jordan harris, we are excited about real estate investing and we hope to use our current home equity to help us get our first property. any tips or tricks would be awesome!

The trick, for me, is to be very honest in the listing and to be upfront about expectations.

.*************** EDIT ******I recall now a trick from some "guru".

. $1,100 should do the trick as long as you don't call and email 20 times with lots of questions :) I would never say not to do that, all of my clients are encouraged to ask anything they need to in order to feel completely comfortable with whatever transaction we are working on together, BUT that's also how you end up with bigger bills.

@Jeff Burdick Thanks for backing me up:)  The trick in that situation is to find an insurance company willing to do "Agreed Value" on the market value of the property. 

A LOT of the ninja tricks rely on owning real estate, almost any real estate. 

I absolutely love that +2% and the fact that you picked it up from a lender Makes it that much more of a fantastic tip and trick to use.

Owners trying to rehab themselves often don't know little tricks such as adding a spoonful of dish soap to their mud to help eliminate air bubbles (and thereby, an additional coat), or that the process of coalescence in exterior paint is negatively affected by an ambient and/ or surface temperature below 50 degrees.Being from Cleveland, unfortunately I can't much help with the Milwaukee area.

Any advice, tips, tricks, or assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.ThanksBen