frozenstar

With regards to credit card overall score, I saw this interesting awhile ago:

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/109280/high-balance-on-one-card-can-hurt-overall-credit-score?mod=bb-creditcards

Todd-Beaulieu

My wife and I have been in a new old home now for a little over a year now. There are stretches where we are working from the crack of dawn, till past dark. Exhaustion. Soreness. Lack of a life outside the home. We do it as a labor of love, being our own home, but I can't imagine doing this full time as a living. It's just too stressful!

Sam1215

These days, learning how to do short sales is the way to go.
Countless people are being foreclosed on. The banks are in *big* trouble for writing bad loans and have a real high motivation to make them good.

So, basically, you find a house where the mortgage is at or over the value that is in foreclosure proceedings (a 'Lis Pendens' in the public records). You locate the people in charge of loans in default. Then get the owners to sign a tentative agreement (contract).
You create a 'Short Sale Package' including information on why the owners can't pay, why the property isn't worth the loan, pictures making the property look *bad*, etc. and you present it to the bank (loan defaults).

If you're interested, go to the book store and buy a couple books on 'Short Sales'.

Rustedbird

Somehow I wound up being the world's slowest house flipper. Didn't intend for it to be that way but a better situation would come up somewhere else in this great country, I'd have to sell. By that time, everything would be working, no more great problems hanging over my head, and I'd be looking forward to catching up on my reading and doing my hobbies.

I hope this time I stay put.

It is a nice feeling to make house your own though. I'm at two built-in bookcases and counting.

thomask

TSP:

My suggestion is to go out and get some hands on experience. Start with a Habitat House, see what it takes to build or remodel a building. Watch a house being built from start to finish. Remember that a remodel is always harder than a new house build. See what they mean when they say "up to code". You may even get hired on as a carpenters helper or a laborer on a residential construction job. Just remember there is no substitute for experience. Learn from the pros both the good and bad sides of construction. Even the pros will run over budget and always plan on extra unforseen costs. Look for someone that is doing a current flip and see if you can shadow or work for them to get a real life example.

You can do anything you put your mind to and good luck.