I helped push for and eventually pass an overlay that requires historic board approval of exterior changes in order to preserve these prominent homes in our west side neighborhood.

Is it safe to focus buying in my own neighborhood or should it be diversified?

These neighborhoods are typically more active for wholesaling/rehabbing than the upper middle class suberbia.

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.

If the neighborhood is cramp and the home is 20K home, I would not spend $200 in sander rentals fee's and varnish and 6 hours of my time refinishing a hardwood floor.

I have purchased one foreclosure in my neighborhood and it was proftitable.

An example of a private owned ROW is when a developer builds a neighborhood.

At the time I had 14 or so rentals, about 1/2 of which were NICER, BIGGER, AT LEAST AS GOOD OF NEIGHBORHOODS as where I lived.One day after returning from a round of golf and enjoying a beer or 5 two of my DEADBEAT tenants brought their rent (and late charges) over to me.

As was stated you need to network and get to know your target neighborhood.

Every house in the neighborhood has a 2 car garage and I really think the house needs the garage -even at the expense of the floor space.thoughts?