Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing fluff!
Review: This book is a hodgepodge of info bits that don't delve into the fundamentals that you actually need to apply when going about your real estate investments. I've had the fortune of reading many other satisfying books, but this is, by far, the worst real estate book I've read. Very disappointing. If you're serious about this field, I recommend THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO BUYING AND SELLING APARTMENT BUILDINGS by Steve Berges and INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE--both of these contain real fundamentals and principles.
Rating: 
Summary: promises, promises, promises
Review: The authors explain how to be a dealer, or middleman, between a person whose house is nearly or has been foreclosed and a real estate investor. In New Jersey, this is called being an agent, and you need a license to do it. In order to activate your license, you must have a broker, who is generally entitled to half of what you make, so instant it isn't. Maybe it's okay in other states, but the dealer is taking a big risk. Basically, his scheme is to purchase the house and then assign the contract to another individual, usually a rehabber, for a fee. One of these times, the rehabber won't show up at the closing, and the dealer is going to have a house with a mortgage that he didn't count on. I hate when that happens. Investors usually have connections such as bankers and realtors who have the skinny on available houses. I don't see why they would need a dealer. Also, anybody can get foreclosures from HUD, the VA and FreddieMac via the Internet. I don't think the sellers are going to go for low or no deposits. We were recently made an offer on a house we have for sale where the person had a $500 deposit and no down payment. We merely turned it down because we didn't consider this a serious offer, and we thought their chances of obtaining a mortgage were poor. Maybe we didn't fall into the "motivated seller" category, which was actually a list of desperate situations. Now for the good points -- the book was well written, and there was a lot of information about the buying and selling processes. There was also a lot of good information about rehabbing, but such houses can't really be turned over so instantly, and seldom for big bucks.
Rating: 
Summary: A "must read" for foreclosure investors.
Review: ... I highly recommend this book as a "must read" for all new foreclosure investors -- especially those of you in New York or New Jersey -- as he is an expert in this business from practicing law and investing in real estate for ten years.
Rating:
Summary: Everything You Need To Know & More !!!!!
Review: I've spent alot of money on many books, but few tell you the ins and outs of flipping as well as this one !!! This book has everything one needs to know AND shows you strategies that work and that anyone can understand. My favorite parts are the forms, checklists and guides.The authors have done the hard part for us and all we have to do is apply the principles and get out there and JUST DO IT !!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended for any investor!
Review: I have 22 years experience in real estate, but frequently read new books to get ideas. I bought this book after I saw one of the authors on CNBC. This one is a gem - I learned more than a thing or two. I really appreciated the candid,"you won't get rick quick" approach the authors conveyed. Beginners would really benefit from the chapters dealing with real estate basics and negotiating. Any investor would benefit from the chapters on contract law and taxes... The sample forms are very good ...
Rating: 
Summary: Re: Good Book, but keep your eyes open
Review: I have read several books on real estate investing and I have even attended real estate licensing courses to learn the fundamentals of real estate. Having done all that my opinion of this book is generally good. The author doesn't promise instant riches or make it seem so easy that you can do it without any work, in fact, he advocates that this is a lot of work to do it right. The sections on prospecting for houses to buy and how to approach potential sellers is also very good. What I didn't like about the book, is his treatment of the infamous "due on sale clause" for those of you who don't know what this is, it is a clause in most mortgages that says if an owner sells you a house and he still owes money to the bank you can't just "assume" his loan, in other words you can't just take over the loan and start making the payments...at least legally. The authors advocate doing it anyways and hoping you don't get caught by the bank and making sure you explain it to the sellers, what he says is that if the bank is an out of state bank they will probably never know you have taken over the payments so don't worry about it. What he doesn't tell you is that if the bank does find out and they do decide to force the issue they can call the entire balance of the loan due at once, possibly putting the investor in a bad situation, which could also affect the original sellers since they are still listed on the loan. The second issue about the book is the creative financing aspects of the book, it is not that these techniques don't exist, becasue they do, but understand that only about 1 in every 100 people who agree to sell to you would be interested in some creative financing, especially if they are distressed buyers. Most distressed buyers will want out of a bad situation right now with all their money (if any is left). They need cash, not some payments over time. Second the zero percent interest situation will work, sometimes, but it is even more rare than the general creative financing techniques. Most houses you buy this way will require you put some cash into the deal (or find a partner who can) and finance the remainder through a private mortgage broker paying interst rates of about 15-18%. Most banks will not lend money on these types of property because they may need a lot of work. So your three options are creative financing or private mortgage lenders, or the third is put all the cash in yourself. The last comment is that the book doesn't discuss tax ramifications of doing flip deals at all. If you are successful and flip 3-4 properties in a year for 10-20K in profits you will be facing some mighty tall tax consequences and it would have been nice if the author had discussed this a little and some common techniques for dealing with this. This may sound like a negative review, but it's not meant to be. The book has some great information and the author's writing style is easy to understand, but it is just meant to let you know that there are clearly some down sides to the author's suggestions that you need to be aware of before rushing into this form of investment. I would recommend reading Kevin Meyers book "Buy it, Fix it, Sell it, Profit" This is fantastic book that will compliment this book very well. I would also recommend the real estate investor's tax guide, both would be needed to give this book a balanced view.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing's Easy But Here Are My Thoughts
Review: If you like tying together thousands of little details under constantly moving deadlines for a living then real estate investing is likely for you. No kidding real estate investment was once described to me as being the focal point of an extremely dysfunctional family. It is not for everyone but this book does a good job of giving you as much information as possible before sending you out to the wolves. Having dabbled in a couple of different investment opportunities in real estate and the stock market, I can appreciate what this book has to offer in terms of reference information. Be forewarned, no book can completely prepare you for the roller-coaster ride you will have to endure when you try to flip your first property. For those of you who like to keep your investment time limited in scope to a few hours of work a week, you may want to try a short-term investing book like the One-day Breakout Method from Kwong or The 5 Day Momentum Method by Cooper. Simple and to the point, you will have to face only a fraction of the daily hassle you would with real estate investing. How much time do you have to spend on investing after your 9-5? Something to ponder.
Rating:
Summary: finally.......a REAL how-to book
Review: Outstanding book. Finally, someone explains how to flip properties, what to do, what to avoid, etc. Rather than some pie-in-the-sky jabberwocky, this book is full of real material with solid advice (e.g., RE investing is hard work).
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for Beginners
Review: I just finished this book, and it was jam packed with information. It goes into the important aspects of real estate investment (for the beginners) and manages to keep it short and to the point. Lots of information. It is written for the first time investor. It gives the pro's and cons as well. Good, honest book.
Rating:
Summary: Great "Cash Flow" Generator
Review: This book is ideal for anyone who wants to make money in real estate but does not want to be a landlord and face the three "T's" of tenants, toilets and turnover.I also recommend the Stefanchik Method, a way of flipping discounted mortgages, How to Pick Up Foreclosures and Real Estate Money Machine.
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