I am intensely fascinated by the market and the fact that this investment provides tangible and human links that are unique to this field (which I'll bet for many has had both positive and negative implications!).

In both cases I would have a professional company manage the property.Does that seem like a safe bet ?

J Scott - you lost this bet, but it seems that your first and second favorite teams will be competing in the upcoming Super Bowl - that's a look on the bright side for you :)

I will be focusing initially on Hudson and Bergen counties with plans for further expansion in the future.

If the house then catches fire, you can bet that Gross Negligence will listed as a cause of action on the lawsuit.

lightbulbs.I'm trying to figure out what is the best lighting to use, both with respect to functionality (brightness), initial cost to install/upgrade, and monthly usage costs.Thanks.

I'm wondering, how did you initially establish your clientele base?

Initially, just like Wayne Brooks mentioned.Once you've had a loan for some period of time, the MI can be taken off by getting a new appraisal showing loan balance to value below some percentage (that should show up in the loan docs - my guess would be 0.78 or a loan balance that is 78% of appraised value).

Educating a borrower may have little financial reward initially, but it can be rewarding in public perception which by the way can be very valuable.

History in the NYC market says a lot more than what was paid for it initially.