Many people think that fixing a house is a sure way to make money. Yet, homeowners are often disappointed when they discover that their renovations didn't add as much to the market value of their home as they thought they would.

There are several factors that determine whether a remodeling project will be profitable. One is that renovation costs and the market value of those renovations vary from one part of the country to the next.

For example, it costs less to replace windows with new, high-end, dual pane windows in the Midwest than it does in the West.  more...

Whether you are an "old pro" residential landlord or a beginner novice, you will benefit from and enjoy Mike Butler's "Landlording on Auto-Pilot." This now-retired cop and his wife built their realty empire by purchasing mostly single-family rental houses, plus some apartments. Along the way, they developed management methods to minimize the inconveniences often caused by tenants while still delivering superior service.

"Your tenants are your employees" is the novel approach Butler uses to manage his residents.  more...

DEAR BOB: My husband and I, ages 74 and 77, respectively, live in our home worth about $900,000 for which we paid $125,000 in 1978. We have a remaining mortgage of $44,000 at 5.25 percent interest with $330 monthly payments. But we dislike sitting on all that "dead money" in our home equity. We've been investigating a reverse mortgage to pull out some of that money to either invest or help our daughter buy a house. However, we are not interested in additional monthly income. Is a reverse mortgage the way to go?  more...