Rants and Raves

Off-Topic Friday: Boston-Edison’s History Being Sold for Scrap

I have always been a fan of old homes. Not 1930’s and 40’s. Boring. I’m talking REALLY old ones from the turn of the century.   There’s something about walking through one of them when it’s vacant and listening. When I do this I can almost hear the sounds of the families that lived there. I imagine conversations about hopes and dreams, and others about the simple routines of everyday life. It’s at these times…

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Rental Houses

CRITICAL Success Factor #1

Here we go again.   Don’t you just love it when someone asks your opinion of something that you actually happen to know a LOT about, you give them the answer, then they proceed to argue with you?   It happened to me again last week.   And unfortunately it was one of those I-already-made-the-decision-so-I’m-only-asking-you-because-I-want-to-validate-in-my-own-mind-that-I-was-right kind of questions.   I’ll spare you the details, but the person bought a trashed out house in a marginal area that he’s…

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Cash Flow Real Estate Investing

The Curse of OPM

How many times have you heard that OPM is the key to all the riches in real estate? Seriously – you can’t turn on a single late-night real estate tv infomercial without some fly-by-night “guru” with a Bentley and a bevy of blonde babes screeching at you about using OPM to make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. I should know – I’ve watched them all. (For the information only. Not the babes. Really) The…

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