Off to Bed to Cover my Head!!!

America's ugliest homes - (1) - CNNMoney

via money.cnn.com

One way to make money in residential real estate: Buy the worst house in the best neighborhood you can afford -- and then fix it up.

HomeVestors, which buys beat-up homes and resells them, is trying to find the ugliest of them all in its annual contest, which ends later this month.

Many of this year's Ugliest Home candidates don't look too unsightly from the outside, but a quick peek behind closed doors reveals some truly horrible conditions.

Buyers shouldn't be too deterred by the chewed-up kitchen cabinets or flood-damaged floors, however. Buying a beat-up property can be a lot cheaper than buying one in A-one condition -- as long as the damage isn't too extensive.

Of course, it's prudent to get an accurate estimate of what repair and renovations will cost before taking the plunge. The cost of fixing a cracked foundation or bad plumbing can wipe out any benefit of buying the fixer-upper on the block.

Here are six candidates in the running for HomeVestors' Ugliest Home in America contest. Almost all of these homes have been bought by HomeVestors franchisees or clients and renovated. Where possible we've included before and after shots to illustrate that there truly is life after ugliness.

What a great marketing Idea - Nothing is big or to small

via agentgenius.com

Can good deeds go over in conjunction with marketing?

With the recent heat wave in New York and exceptionally higher than average temperatures in the area, two real estate agents new to the Brooklyn area came up with a clever way of branding their new office in nearby Fort Green.

Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Misha Chiporukha and Louis Esposito rented a hand­pushed ices cart, added signage and a branded umbrella and put on retro aprons and in the hot afternoons, began serving free ices to residents of Fort Green and Clinton Hill, two Brooklyn boroughs that are up and coming.

Word of the team’s visits to the neighborhood spread quickly and the two claim to have given out over 500 business cards to locals on their first day.

The team says the good deeds have already garnered numerous leads from renters looking for new apartments in the area to homeowners looking to sell. The two added a postcard mailer to the campaign with a vintage styled photo of the two at their cart with “get the scoop” printed on the card, inviting locals to ask about the market.

Most “good deed” campaigns come across as smarmy, but when a true need is met (like a good chill on a hot day), people remember the gesture, and we are told the team is already highly recognizable in the streets, after just a few days of generosity.