"After paying went to knock on the house. They let me in." Now you have to get the residents out. Offering them some money is often effective. You need to become aware of the eviction laws in your area so you can start the process. There are often strict times in the laws, and the first step is often a 'NOTICE TO QUIT.' It must be legally correct as to form, delivery, originator, addressee, etc. for the jurisdiction the property is located in. Make a mistake and the clock will not start running for the tenant to move. I hope you have an attorney available.

I am sorry you lost your money to a corrupt broker. At least this woman lost her license. I hope you are able to recover some of your money. Thank you for mentioning the name of the brokerage. I have a friend who is invested with them. I will share this information with them. When we first came into some money, we had little experience with stocks, etc and looked for an advisor. We made appointments to talk with several different types of "professionals". Brokers, CFP's, accountants. Before we contacted anyone, we tried to educate ourselves as much as possible so we would know what to expect (and avoid). We read many financial books and surfed the internet for information before making our first appointment. It was interesting. The source of information that proved the most helpful was the book "Brokerage Fraud-What Wall Street Doesn't Want You to Know"-by Tracy Pride Stoneman and Douglas J. Schulz. The authors have experience as a)securities attorney/Judge/NASD-SYSE arbitrator and b) expert witness for securities fraud cases. The sleeve of their books states " Very often, financial services professionals fail to tell you about the dark side of the brokerage firm business, the investments they recommend, the handling of your accounts, and what you can do about it. The secrets and insights presented in this book will help ensure that you become a better-and better invested-consumer." Before you entrust ANY more money to brokers, etc., you might want to check this book out from your local library as well as visit the following person's website for some very good information about keeping control of YOUR money. Forbes.com Best of the Web E.F. Moody Jr. www.efmoody.com. With 3250 pages and 1650 links, the site bills itself as the "largest and most comprehensive independent financial site ... www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/review.jhtml?id=456 - 24k - (read the link-How to Find a Financial Planner) Here is a story that recently appeared in the Motley Fool. Best of luck to you and thanks for sharing your story. Beware of Brokers Bearing Annuities By Buz Livingston, CFPWed Jul 25, 5:12 PM ET The first baby boomers are making plans for retirement, with their 401(k) plans stuffed with savings. In response to the pending onslaught of soon-to-be retirees, the insurance industry has metamorphosed into "retirement planning." However, it's promoting marketing techniques designed more to generate sales than to expand investors' holdings. Companies offering variable annuities, including Hartford (NYSE: HIG - News) and the John Hancock division of Manulife (NYSE: MFC - News), often add extra features, also known as riders. Agents like these provisions, since they sound good and help win over risk-averse customers. But they often prove completely unnecessary, adding nothing to the value of the annuity or its eventual payout. For instance, one type of rider is called a guaranteed minimum accumulation benefit (GMAB). It promises that the value of a variable annuity will rise by at least a certain percentage -- often 6% -- over time. Sounds nice, doesn't it? But there's a catch. The troubles with GMAB For beginners, the fees to add a GMAB can be obscenely expensive. If you add mortality and expense charges, administrative costs of the variable annuity, and the extra GMAB fee, you could easily pay expenses topping 3% each year. That wouldn't be so bad if you actually got something from it. But the odds are good that you'll never need such a benefit. Some annuities tied to the stock market use a long timeframe -- such as 10 years -- to apply the GMAB. That means that in order to get a benefit from the GMAB, the market would have to earn less than 6% annually over a 10-year period. Historically, the last time that happened was 1984 -- a period that included the tail end of the 1973-74 bear market. The GMAB feature isn't likely to cost the insurance companies anything close to what they'll make on it. Pensions and annuities Another marketing ploy annuity salespeople trot out is the benefit of annuitizing 401(k) rollovers. They argue that the rollover will be taxed as ordinary income, so why not buy an annuity with it? That line of reasoning is true. Yet often, the annuities they recommend -- especially equity-indexed and variable annuities -- are unsuitable investments for retirees. Retirees who want to replace a salary or create a pension-like cash stream should consider an immediate fixed annuity. Although it often won't pay a death benefit to your heirs, it will usually offer higher payouts during your lifetime. Check out low-cost providers such as Vanguard or Integrity Life for options on immediate annuities. In addition, if you want a beneficiary to get back at least what you paid for the annuity, you can choose a return-of-premium benefit. Zealous annuity marketers will sometimes misrepresent an annuity's fees and commissions. (I've heard them do so myself.) Don't fall for it! Except in rare cases, the higher costs for annuities simply mean that you're giving more of your hard-earned money to your broker. Most of the time, comparable mutual funds in a rollover IRA make much better investments. Fool contributor Buz Livingston, CFP owns none of the stocks listed and appreciates your feedback. He believes investors will benefit from professional advice. The Fool's disclosure policy is always on your side. Copyright 2007 Motley Fool Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

There are a lot of things that make doing what you are talking about less than optimal. Having had partners, even in real estate, a few times before I can tell you that it never quite works out the way you expect it to. First, I find that my partners never seem to live up to my expectations, nor me to theirs. There is no faster way to spoil a good relationship with someone than giving them some of your stuff to take care of. Or try making a decision or repairing versus replacing components, or try writing a big check for a big ticket item for a house you aren't living in or getting money from. Next, there is the problem of someone needing their money out. Assume one of the families invested in this home needs money, what mechanism are you going to have to get them out? You are going to have fun with the liability issue on the property. Multiple owners will give you joint and several liability which means if anyone gets hurt they can sue whoever they want. Not only that, if one of the other owners gets hurt because of any known maintenance issue, then that person could sue the other two to pony up their share of his/her damages. Then we have insurance, which insurance alone is going to make you pay attention. A communal property with no full time resident and a pool. You will not be eligible for homeowner's insurance as the house isn't anyone's home, so you are going to have to get some kind of commercial insurance that will probably cost you close to what the actual house payment is. Next, you have house and pool maintenance. A huge number of pools end up as nothing more than mosquito pools because no one expects that pool maintenance is that much work. Pool maintenance is neither cheap nor easy. House maintenance isn't going to be a walk in the park either. There are ways to make it work, however, I think you are looking at all the upsides and none of the downsides.

If you are selling to an investor (for a rental), they won't mind a laminate countertop. If your target customer is a new home buyer, they would probably like something nicer. Check out getting granite countertops made from pre-fab slabs. You don't have that much countertop, so the slabs shouldn't be too much and the fabrication should not cost too much either. Go with something light as the corner with the sink is a dark hole. Stainless appliances are nice and available at many price points. It's better if they all match.