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Fantastic Investments In Bridgton ME

Fantastic Investments Real Estate Bridgton ME Greetings PlanetSavers, I'm on the road today from Bridgton ME to Round Hill VA. It was great spending a few days with Tom Smith, our resident green building and investment expert in that neck of the woods. After inspecting our great 198 Pond Road property and coming energy wise subdivision, we looked at a few other near by investment opportunities. Tonight we'll be utilizing the team from CA to ME to share what I think are some of the best deals in the nation.  For several reasons real estate in this area is still ripe for the pickings if...Continue Reading!

Buy, Hold and Sell: Green Residential Investing

Buy, Hold and Sell Green Residential Investing Tonight we'll be examining two more Fresno CA residential properties, both of which one of our GEE investor's just received offer acceptance notices on. Navigating the rising real estate market we're always on the look out for properties, from heavy remodels to rent ready, offering good long term returns. These two homes are fairly Phase 1 rent ready once they've received thorough shell seal and additional attic insulation.  Duct seal is also an option when the loading order makes sense One of the homes is in an older Fresno neighborhood. A no fills 3 bedroom 2 bath...Continue Reading!

Rising Residential Market Examples

Market Examples Rising Residential Property Comparison Tonight we'll be examining some residential properties currently being offered in Fresno CA that we've selected for a return investor looking to take advantage of good rental ROI's in the face of a rising real estate market. We're finding that even with low inventory and strong interest by investors, there are still deals to be found once you've answered some preliminary questions. Some discussion points will be: When to offer full asking vs above or below? How much do niche location issues matter such as busy streets and airport flight paths? Advantages and disadvantages of buying lower and doing the work...Continue Reading!

Manual J Load Calcs: 198 Pond Rd Bridgton ME

Manual J Load Calcs: 198 Pond Rd Bridgton ME Picking up were we left off last week, this Tuesday we're planning on taking an in depth look at our energy wise renovation of a 100 year old home: 198 Pond Road in Bridgton  ME. Among other things I'll be running Manual J Load Calculations with a spreadsheet I've developed (and will be happy to share with our guests).  Sorting through a dozen or so presets should give us (or you on your project) a fairly quick and accurate look at our heating and cooling needs and costs. This Tuesday I'll be working from a...Continue Reading!

1000 Home Challenge: 198 Pond Rd Bridgton ME

1000 Home Challenge 198 Pond Rd Bridgton ME We're glad to have Linda Wigington,  the founder of the THC, The Thousand Home Challenge as our guest again this Tuesday night.  She'll be glad to answer all your questions. What is it?  How does it work?  How is it different from other programs?  Who developed it? Could my home possibly qualify? We'll use one of our own houses that's just starting the renovation process to see how it measures up: 198 Pond Road in Bridgton, Maine. We've got most of the demolition done and are starting to move walls around and change the floor plan......Continue Reading!

In Depth Remodel Budget: 4554 E. Harvard Fresno CA

Remodel Budget 4554 E. Harvard Fresno CA This week I've asked our Rogelio Covarubias, our general contractor in Fresno, CA to take us through a line by line final budget for our next investor owned property. This interesting acquisition has a lot of potential but will required a good bit of work.  When completed, the nearly 2,000 sqft 5 bedroom 2.5 bath home will easily provide housing for two complete families, each needing to share only a spacious kitchen.  Given our experience with responses from Craig's List for 4 bedrooms, we believe we'll be inundated with renters with large or muliti-generational families. Click...Continue Reading!

Niche Condos Part 2: Return On Investment

Niche Condos Part 2 Return On Investment (ROI) Last week we reviewed 5 "Niche Condos" that seemed to offer better initial Return On Investment (ROI) than some in less than desirable locations. This week we'll do a quick review and then take an in depth look at Property Evaluation Schedules for each. These will include: Acquisition prices Property comps Estimated Phase 1 remodel costs Marketing and managing expense Flipping vs Renting ROI We'll discuss the various properties and as always provide both the Property Comparison Spreadsheet and Individual Property Evaluation Schedules to attendees.  We'll even be offering opportunities for those interested to invest in any of the condos being reviewed. Hope...Continue Reading!

Niche Condos: Special Value Part 1

Niche Condos Special Value? Part 1 With Dave Robinson River Cruising in Portugal we're taking the opportunity to continue our series on the investment condo market. A few weeks ago we found low cost condos seemed to offer a good initial Return On Investment (ROI) but the locations seem less than desirable. On the other side of the equation, condos in nice areas of town offer far less ROI's when factoring in higher purchase prices and Home Owner Association (HOA) fees. A little more digging and we discovered 5 condos in Fresno CA that have "niche market appeal." Some are located in better pockets of...Continue Reading!

Open Forum: Q & A

Open Forum: Q & A Calculating and Comparing Heating Fuels After tonight, for the next three Tuesdays I'll be joining my travel agent wife in and around Portugal but not to worry, Rob's got some excellent topics lined up. Since I may be out of the pocket for awhile I though tonight would be a good time for another in our Open Forum Series. This is an excellent opportunity to bring a project or idea your considering or are already working on to our energy wise renovating team. Or maybe you've run across an interesting green building article or website you'd like feedback on....Continue Reading!

Condos: Overlooked Cash Cows?

Condos... Overlooked Cash Cows? Last week we took an in depth look at several previously owned residential investments.  In working through the process we noted that at the moment Condos in many cases seem to be offering better than 100:1 returns as rentals! Previously not on our radar, GEE's giving these low cost buy in options a closer look.  Here's some of our findings: While investors are quick to pick up on single and even multi-family residences, condos may seem hardly worth the effort and therefore are remaining on MLS for extended periods. Owners often remodel these units for quicker turn around, thereby decreasing the...Continue Reading!