Home :: Books :: Professional & Technical  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical

Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Real Estate Investing (Complete Idiot's Guide To...)

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Real Estate Investing (Complete Idiot's Guide To...)

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $13.57
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally, a book with data you can use!
Review: An excellemt guide to the labyrinthine world of the real estate investor. Rider has liberally laced his easily readable text with helpful suggestions and admonitions about typical pitfalls that can trip up the less savvy beginner. Much of the info in this book is, literally, worth its weight in gold! I consider it a must have for anyone serious about purchasing income property. If only Rider hadn't been too busy to write 10 years ago!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of my all time Real Estate favorites...
Review: Finally a book that covers real estate from a perspective other than "single family flips using no down payment". This book even covers development. Everything from how to pick the right investment using the numbers, improving leases and how to manage to increase the value of your investment. He shows you where to find data to help in the due diligence process; how to find partners and arrange financing; how to use spreadsheets to crunch the numbers before purchase, during ownership and to benefit in the sales process. No stone is left unturned.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: How did this book get published?
Review: I bought this book recently and was so disappointed that I was compelled to write a review. I would not recommend this book to anyone. This book is so poorly written, I couldn't get past the first half. There were numerous misspellings, obvious grammar mistakes and an ongoing rambling by the author. I might have been able to get past the lack of English and grammar skills but this book was not helpful at all!

For example, when it talks about assembling your team and it refers to the broker, not once does the author explain what the broker is expected to do. When the author discusses title law, he explains in the book that he doesn't know about it but if the reader gets in contact with a lawyer experienced in title law, one should be able to find out the info. HUH? This guy didn't bother doing any research at all. He should have looked for that info himself and answered those questions for the reader. That is what I bought the book for - for answers, not some guy writing a book off the top of his head about his experiences and only his experiences in real estate investing.

Another annoying thing about this book is the author wrote it like it was a self-help book. I don't need someone telling me to follow my dreams and to keep going. I need the facts, the info, and the knowledge so I can accomplish what I want to do. I don't need a coach, I need a teacher and this guy definitely is not a teacher.

Well, I'm sorry I can't tell you what book you should buy because I still haven't found it myself. But, I can tell you to stay away from this one. Don't waste your money.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Competent and Comprehensive
Review: I enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who needs a comprehensive understanding of the entire process of commercial investment and due diligence. It's a great reference whether you are acquiring, managing, or disposing of your asset.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Competent and Comprehensive
Review: I enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who needs a comprehensive understanding of the entire process of commercial investment and due diligence. It's a great reference whether you are acquiring, managing, or disposing of your asset.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best in 20 Years !!
Review: I have read books on real estate investing for over twenty years and have learned more from yours than all of the previous ones put together! Stuart gets right to the eseence of where the real money is to be made in real estate which is basically in the development process. No flim-flam schemes here, his approach walks you through the most profitable aspects of real estate investing. It really opened my eyes as I saw real estate from an entirely different angle.

Edvard Redding Richards

author of Fire Your IRA!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Be sure that this is really the book for you.
Review: I read this book as I was pursuing my first big investment into a commercial office building. I was able to apply the tools and straight-forward principles Stuart Leland includes in the book. I was able to establish a prudent asset value, project cash flows and potential return on investment using the spreadsheets and logic he walks you through in the book. He uses his real life past deals to illustrate how to apply these great tools. The book also looks past the initial transaction and provides guidelines, advice and additional tools for managing the asset and tenants. This is a must read as a first step into commercial real estate investment. I keep it on my desk and refer to it often.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: For Office & Retail Investors Only
Review: I was looking for a book on residential real estate investment, especially something on apartment buildings and how to figure value, such as using gross rent multipliers. I was disappointed. I needed to know current tax law on capital gains and some info on exchanges. The word 1031 is not found in this book. I was glad to see LLCs were included, but the information was vague since it had to apply to all states. Be warned: This book deals only with office and retail real estate investment. You will not find any information on apartments or single family rentals. If that is your interest, you definitely need a different book.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: For Office & Retail Investors Only
Review: I was looking for a book on residential real estate investment, especially something on apartment buildings and how to figure value, such as using gross rent multipliers. I was disappointed. I needed to know current tax law on capital gains and some info on exchanges. The word 1031 is not found in this book. I was glad to see LLCs were included, but the information was vague since it had to apply to all states. Be warned: This book deals only with office and retail real estate investment. You will not find any information on apartments or single family rentals. If that is your interest, you definitely need a different book.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Be sure that this is really the book for you.
Review: It is entirely possible that this really is a great book, as some of the reviewers suggest. But it wasn't what I was looking for.
I am in the "study" stage of a plan to accumulate residential properties for income. I have read a few real estate books so far, and some of them have been very helpful.
This book, however, was not designed for me. This book seems more designed for people who are planning major investments in sizeable properties or commercial real estate. It also would be good for people interested in becoming developers. Despite the information presented about the book, this is not a book for someone who is starting out in the early stages of real estate investing in small residential properties for supplemental income. However, it might be good if you have a lot of money to get started and are planning a career switch towards commercial development or large properties. Since I'm not interested or able to do that, I am not qualified to advise you if that is what you need. But if you are like me, you may want to start with some other books, like the "Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing" or other books like it.


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates