hi all. i was driving around my neighborhood and found two abandoned houses that are in fairly decent shape. i wanted to research them to find out if i can do something with them. the owner of one house died, but he was a loner and i don't think he left a will. the second house looks like it was just abandoned by the owners recently. guess they walked out on mortgage. how would i research who owns the house so that i can contact them?

@Ned Carey You're absolutely right about the importance of DCR -- a point I try to drive home both to investors and to my students whenever I get a chance.

If I am not mistaken REIT's tend to be highly leveraged therefore returns may be good for now but once rates start going up it may drive the returns down.

I'd love to share some perspective on actual on-the-ground figures for growth% in India.

If you value your efforts and pay for the gas to drive over there, you're under water!

It is one who drives by his/her rental more than once a month under the guise of "I am just keeping an eye on my investment."

But it's a business with endless growth and highly paid directors.

Depreciation and deductions disappear, but the ability to push out recognition of profits for decades (or forever in a Roth) makes growth easier.Successful retirement investing is about 1> preservation of capital, and 2> finding an acceptable return.

Driving The Neighborhoods?

Very low transaction costs, reasonable income tax and strong economic growth ;) Just joined here but I have kept my eye on this site for a few days now.