Homes built with a Spanish/Mediterranean flair still are among the most popular home styles being built in these states and they work well with the local vegetation and climate. You will find lots of tile flowing from the indoors to the outdoors and perhaps more style on the roof. Front doors may feature elaborate wooden carving and you can find fancy wrought-iron or another metal made to look like iron grilles on banisters, balconies, fences or windows. Homes may wrap around a courtyard or feature covered walkways.

The seamless tradition from indoors to outdoors aided by the same flooring and views out to the garden or courtyard is one of the nicest features of Spanish/Mediterranean-style homes making them particularly suitable for places with a mild year-round climate. However, all those hard surfaces can lead to harsh echoes unless you soften the rooms with throw rugs and plush furniture.

The exterior finish is often stucco. These days you will also find a faux stucco called EIFS which is an acronym for exterior insulation and finish systems made essentially of foam and plastic. Both real and faux stucco are great insulators, useful for hot climates and are resistant to the termites that plague the South. But stucco tends to crack over time and faux stucco can trap dampness inside the walls if it was not applied with competence and care leading to mold or rot. Make sure your home inspector pays particular attention to this point if you buy a home made with faux stucco.

Ranch-style homes started to be built during the 1940s but they became the house of the postwar baby boom of the 1950s and 60s. The suburbs were expanding and land was still cheap enough that homeowners did not feel compelled to stack the bedrooms on top of the living space. Homeowners’ Manifest Destiny would be to settle in clean-lined new homes spreading out across the suburbia, each stretching from lot-line. Attached garages can make these homes appear to sprawl even farther across the lot.

The relative simplicity of most ranch houses built during that time can make them a wonderfully blank canvas for remodeling. Wings can be added, making an L-shaped or U-shaped house and a few tweaks to the roof-line and windows can give a basic ranch a very modern flavor. Because of the one-level living it can be easy to open a ranch out to the patio or pool in back. They are also easily desirable homes to grow old in. Depending on the layout though, there can be little privacy for bedrooms. And you may face big re-roofing bills for a sprawling ranch-style home.

When: TOMORROW, SEPT 4TH

AT 1PM ET:
Suburban Steal

The newest project for CT Homes comes by way of one of Paul and Than’s investor protegees. He sells them on a steal of a deal in an upscale suburb. It’s a 3000 square-foot home on a ½ acre, hill-top lot surrounded by trees and stunning views. The interior is recently renovated with new high-end fixtures. Than is wary of taking on a too many projects given their plans to open a satellite office in San Diego, but Paul and JD argue that, with a couple of small fixes, they will have the hottest house in the neighborhood. The biggest challenge will be trying to sell fast in today’s down market. Demo day arrives and with it the first major set-back–the overgrown backyard is home to a strange gravel pit that hides the remains of an outdated septic system. The installation of a new septic system plus the discovery of faulty plumbing inside the house turn this quick flip into a serious challenge.

AT 2PM ET:
Joe’s Quick Flip

Paul and Than put CT Homes rookie, Joe, in charge of his first flip. From negotiating the purchase to managing renovations and finding a buyer, Joe must handle it all. When he runs into trouble, Paul is busy training for the New York City marathon and refers him to the CT Homes manual. Supposedly, everything Joe needs to know is in the CT Homes manual, but when he can’t find the answers in the book he’s forced to do what every experienced flipper masters–learn from his mistakes.

AT 3PM ET:
The Uninvited Guest

Jeremy gets the scoop on a run-down but beautiful two family on New Haven’s historical West Hazel Street. With only a cursory glance at the outside, Jeremy brokers a deal, but CT Homes gets more than it bargained for. A rogue tenant who has no intention of leaving is only the first surprise this flip has in store. Extensive lower level fire damage and a mystery pipe leak only add to the stress. Can Than and his team turn these unlucky surprises into a happy conclusion?

Know Your Weather Conditions

Selecting plants that are adapted to  your climate is half the secret of gardening. A plant that is well suited to its surroundings will flourish with a minimum of help while a plant transplanted to an inhospitable site will struggle no matter how much care you give it. Your best tool for identifying such plants is the Temperature Zone Map. Developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as an aid to gardeners and nurseries, it divides Canada and the United States including the Hawaiian Islands into 11 zones. Most American and Canadian nurseries and mail-order companies have adopted the USDA map as a standard reference.

Each zone  is based on an average minimum temperature which is an index of the local winter’s severity. In most cases this temperature is the crucial factor in determining whether a plant will survive in a given region. Most plant descriptions – in catalogs or labels for example –  indicate the zones in which a specific plant will thrive. For instance, the common flowering dogwood will be listed as “hardy to zone 6,” which means that the plant will generally withstand temperatures down to 0 degrees F. and -10 degrees F. Once you have identified the zone that you live in, buy only plants that are recommended for that zone then you can be reasonably confident that your new plants will adapt well to the local climate.

These are sturdy houses usually anchored by a generous porch supported by chunky columns of wood or stone. Roof lines are steeply pitched with large overhangs and often you have multiple roofs, thanks to one or more windowed dormers jutting out from the second floor, first floor or sometimes as a small wing attached to the main floor. Indoors, a good Craftsman-style house will have lots of prominent woodwork and molding especially around the fireplace.

Like so many houses with porches, a Craftsman may not be as big inside as it appears to be from the outside. That porch also may make adjoining rooms dark during the daytime. With their heavy use of woodwork and molding, rooms tend to have an earthy, cozy feel or a dark, claustrophobic feel depending on your taste.

Counteroffers are replies to original offers as the name implies. Much as you would verbalize a counterpoint to another person’s statement, the counteroffer is a response to an original offer. The negotiating involved with offers and counteroffers is not limited only to monetary values. For example, you may offer that your company will remove any left-over furniture or garbage for the seller as a part of the package. The seller may or may not accept it and the negotiation moves on.

You belong to the condo association as a unit owner and own a fraction of those common facilities. Each owner is assessed a condominium fee which is also called a maintenance fee and is usually paid monthly. It pays for the upkeep of common areas, pool management and lifeguards, property taxes, insurance premiums owed on the common areas and usually the services of a property manager who keeps it all running smoothly. In fact, give the condo some bonus points for hiring a professional property manager to manage a big property.

Pay close attention to association fees when you’re weighing the purchase of a condo. The same is true of homeowners’ associations where you own your home and yard completely but pay into a pool to manage common neighborhood areas. They can be hefty, especially if the development boasts a lot of common-area features such as pools, gyms, playgrounds, tennis courts, clubhouses or full-time security people. And there’s no limit on how high your fees might rise over the years. While you could lock down your mortgage payment for three decades with a low-interest mortgage, your association fee could ratchet higher year after year. And if your association does not manage its money carefully, you can be hit with special assessments to pay for big repairs. Unlike your mortgage interest, condo and homeowner association fees are not tax-deductible.

Other types of housing co-ops include mobile-home park co-ops which own the land, utilities and community facilities, while members own the individual “mobile-homes.” For the most part, co-ops are incorporated and a board of directors governs the complex with the owner of each individual unit having one vote. The owner has no deed and instead holds stock and a proprietary lease that has a term of ten to fifty years, renewable automatically or at the discretion of the shareholders. Mortgage, property tax and maintenance fees are paid on a pro-rate basis which is proportionately according to the percentage of the overall size of the unit.

Co-ops are similar to condominiums but without the exclusive ownership rights and are particularly popular in areas of high density and high land values such as New York City. Instead of owning the three-dimensional space and the interest in the common elements of the condo project, you own shares of a corporation that owns the entire project. You are also a tenant of this  corporation with respect to the unit you occupy within the project. Unlike a condominium where you can own a unit provided you have the money to do so, a co-op requires that new owners be voted upon and approved by the board of directors before being allowed to buy shares in the corporation. As a co-op buyer, you’ll likely be asked by the board of directors to provide a financial statement and references and to participate in an interview.

One of the drawbacks of co-op ownership is the fact that the bylaws and rules and regulations limit what you can or cannot physically change about the unit that you’re living in. Be prepared for restrictions on loud music, rental regulations and limitations on selling your shares before first making them available to the co-op itself for repurchase. The co-op can impose such limitations because the corporation or association owns the title to the real estate and residents simply purchase stock in the corporation which entitles them to occupy a unit in the building or property owned by the cooperative. While you don’t technically own your unit, you do have the absolute right to occupy that unit for as long as you own the stock.

While a good deal can make you a million bucks in some cases, a bad deal can also lose a lot of money as well. There is no one answer to this question, but here are some commonalities that we can look at:

Motivation is key.
There needs to be a higher level of motivation from the seller. Whether you are dealing with an individual home owner or a company such as the bank, courts or city entity, they have to be motivated to sell.
That does not mean desperate, but if they have no want or need, your likelyhood of getting a good price is much lower. You need to look closely at the motivation; if you do not know what it is, then you should find out. Ask the owner why they are selling and see if you can help them solve a problem. The banks motivation will be to get a bad asset off their books, but if they have multiple offers then their motivation level changes and they get back on the drivers’ seat.

Numbers are vital.
You have to be able to buy the house or building at a discount of some kind. Determining the current market value quickly, understanding repair costs and then formulating the price you can pay is a process that you must understand and get good at.
The old MOA (maximum allowable offer) formula is an investors quick rule of thumb. ARV (after repair value) X 70% – Repairs = MAO.
There are many different ways to invest, of course. There are short sales were you can create your own equity. You can buy property with owner financing and no money out of pocket. You can assign contracts and never own the property. In all cases you will need to look at the numbers. If you don’t buy at a discount, you are simply a retail buyer acting like an investor.

Problems turn into profit.
Usually the amount of problems with the seller or property will be directly proportionate to the profit. The more problems there are, the greater the profit (usually). If the house has been in a major fire, you have problems. Therefore you should be able to buy at a deeper discount. If the REO has fallen out of contract 4 times, the bank has problems and is motivated to sell quickly and for a lower price. Now there are exceptions to this, of course, but in most cases, more problems will mean more money.

Education puts you ahead of the curve.
Fear is a lack of education. The more educated you are, the better you can evaluate leads and determine deals. Also, look at the other benefits. If you know more that others, they will look to you for answers and help with their deals. You become the authority in your circle and as a result, more deals come your way. Education will not only help you determine what a deal is, but it can also bring more deals to you.

While there are many things that make a great deal, these are the big ones that you should keep on your radar.

• What is the share price?
• Where can I obtain share loan financing?
• How much are the monthly carrying charges?
• What is the underlying mortgage?
• What is the pet policy?
• What is the subletting policy?
• What is the policy for making alterations to the unit?

You will also want to review your rights and responsibilities as outlined in the cooperative’s documents which typically include the articles of incorporation, bylaws, proprietary lease or occupancy agreement, subscription agreement and house rules. As a shareholder, you have a right to elect board members, to remove board members and to amend bylaws. You also have the responsibility to pay your monthly charges on time as well as follow all other rules and regulations of the cooperative. As you shop around for a co-op bear in mind that these entities are known to be highly selective in approving shareholder since most communities are seeking members who can not only meet their financial obligations but who share a similar lifestyle and will abide by the rules of the corporation. But that does not mean that they can discriminate. In keeping with the Fair Housing Act, it is illegal for a co-op to discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, family status, religion, national origin or disability.