Mortgage lenders were making tons of money making these loans and selling them into these pools.

The landscaped back yards provide visual impact, and I think add to the asking price, but they still haven't sold.

In their back yard they have a couple banana trees he planted.

Somewhat like a pool.

I just spent a fair amount of money to demolish and rebuild a patio in my back yard.

Wow, you really think a Bowler or a pool player is an athlete?

There are so many opportunities in one's own back yard the idea of investing across the pond is just not in the make up of most US investors.John Corey

These types of houses probably account for 10% of the total number of foreclosures in our area, so our pool of opportunity is relatively small.

And then it grew from there.Some tips to grow it:* Send out recaps of your meetings* Try to get experienced meetup members to talk at meetups * We feature one virtual guest each time to increase our pool of potential speakers as well as to emphasize how much easier and connected the world is nowadays* Try to find local area experts - I'm sure there are lot of people who might be interested in investing in China as well or learning about property.

I think something like a pool table in a finished basement might be attractive for the husband who would love a man cave.If you have a pinball machine why don't you offer to sell it to me?