What size air conditioner do I need?

A larger air conditioner will not always provide more cooling. It should be sized for room area. If properly sized it should operate long enough to remove moisture from air. It is moisture removed from room which actually produces feeling of cooling. Unfortunately many people in their rush to purchase a window air conditioner buy too large a model.

Too large a unit can actually provide less cooling than a smaller, properly sized unit. This is because with an oversized air conditioner its run time is too short. Consequently it does not remove enough moisture from room to produce a feeling of comfort. If you’re A/C seems to cycle off and then back on every few minutes and does a poor job of cooling, it is probably oversized for room.

Air conditioners are rated in BTU’s. British Thermal Units are a measurement of how much heat is being transferred form room being cooled to where heat is dumped out of doors. This is why cooing coil inside room is cool to touch, while part that hangs outside is extremely hot.

A window air conditioner used in average household room can be as low as 4000 BTU. While 5000, 6000, and 8000 are most common sizes purchased.

How do I determine what size A/C I need? Following is a basic sizing chart for calculating window air conditioner needed for a room. Calculate size of room by multiplying width of room by length of room. Use your room size to determine what BTU's are required to cool that particular room size.

room in sq ft--------room in sq m----------A/C size in BTU's

100–250.................9–23...................5000–6000 250–400................23–37...................6000–8500 400–550................37–51...................8000–11000 550–875................51–811..................1000–15000

Knowing and being able to negotiate good real estate deals every time is key to real estate investing success. What to look for, and how to calculate your profit, cashflow and risk exactly and then evaluate deal is revealed. These techniques apply to all real estate investments including foreclosures, short sales, rehabs, flips, muliti-family, lease option and owner financing.

Dear Investor,

Take this little survey: The most important key to Real Estate Success is:

1. Finding Motivated Sellers 2. Funding Your Deals 3. Negotiating 4. Knowing a Good Deal when you see one.

Yes all of them are important. And if you answered #4 – you're right on money. Why, because if your deal is a not good one, all your other skills and marketing and power will not make you money, and may even lead to disaster.

On other hand, if you can unfailingly target good deals, you will always be successful and all other skills and your marketing methods will serve to increase your success.

It's a lot easier to state question than give answer. Why?

SO... WHAT IS A GOOD DEAL?

It's a lot easier to state question than give answer. Why? Because it depends on many factors like: > Market value and purchase price > Expenses, carrying costs, repairs > Cashflow and profit > Holding time > Loan terms > Risk factors > And more . . .

And most importantly, it depends on type of deal you're doing. For example, if you have a loan on a property that you intend to rent or sell on a lease option, terms of mortgage, future tax increases, and current area rents are critical to consider in insuring a positive cashflow. However, if you are planning to do a short rehab job, and sell or just flip to another investor, rental income is irrelevant as are future tax increases.

IT'S WHAT YOU DON'T THINK ABOUT THAT CAN GET YOU

The thing that trips up many investors, is that in our enthusiasm to do a deal that we've found, we don't take into consideration "hidden" costs.

For example, if you're doing a renovation and you've done your due diligence on contractor costs, have you also considered your carrying costs such as mortgage payments, utilities, etc. not only during renovation, but also time it will take to sell and close with a new buyer?

Or if you're using a realtor to sell property, have you calculated effect of a 6-7% commission and closing costs seller will pay on your bottom line. A 10% profit margin can shrink pretty quickly to zero under those circumstances.

READ THOSE LOAN TERMS CAREFULLY

Or have you taken into account, not just your loan to value ratio on property, but your investment to value ratio (e.g., total of all outstanding loan balances plus additional funds you've put in from your own cash or borrowed from your home equity line or friends and family)?

And on income side, have you calculated how long you should hold property to receive a significant profit from pay down of mortgage. With a new 30 yr loan, you may have to wait 5-10yrs to get same pay down you'd get after a few years from a 30yr loan that's been seasoned for 10 years. And did you carefully read note contracts to take account of adjustable rates and pre-payment penalties?

CHECKLISTS AREN'T ENOUGH

A number of courses and real estate gurus will give you checklists. That's helpful in not forgetting something, but it doesn't help you with laborious and complex task of putting all numbers together.

There's just something about working with actual real numbers, that brings reality of deal into actual focus. Our hopes and wishes dissolve before actual profit and loss calculations.

Moreover, numbers can pinpoint weaknesses in a deal, and point way to a solution. No mere checklist can do that.

WHAT ABOUT RISK?