Converting Scrap into Gold
By Joseph F Schuler Jr., Senior Editor


From Baton Rouge, LA., To Washington D.C., to Oceanside, Calif., speculative and traditional remodelers alike report that spec remodeling—buying and fixing up homes for resale—is go-go hot. And if you know the game and don’t get burned, you’ll turn wicked profits....

...Jim Abdo, CEO of Abdo Development of Washington, D.C., who has built a $6 million business out of targeting architecturally significant housing, says the return to the cities is a move by empty nesters and dot-commers who want to capture the excitement the city offers. "If you’re living off in the suburbs, you can pretty much count on each day replicating the next," he says. "The urban existence is a lot edgier. There’s a lot of stuff going on day and night. Tech-minded folks like the idea of the urban existence. ‘I’ll work in the suburbs, but I’m not going to live there. I’ll do my reverse commute and live in a cool loft condo or a really neat rehabbed Victorian mansion.’"...

Excerpts from "Converting Scrap into Gold" in Remodeling October 2000 issue