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| Category: Business:Personal Finance and Investing | |
| About the Book | |
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Investing
in real estate is, at its heart, a very simple business. To be a millionaire,
you could buy five houses worth $200,000 each or 10 houses worth $100,000.
Your tenants pay off your mortgages and you retire. The complexity comes in the details. Which houses should you buy? Where will you get the down payments? Find the best loans? Select good tenants? Write your lease? Pay off your houses early so you can retire in ten years instead of thirty? Suzanne starts by helping you to identify your dream life. This is not the life you might see portrayed on a T.V. show about the rich and glamorous, but the life that will make you happy. Do you want to be an artist, a stay-at-home parent, or a world traveler? How much money do you need so you can spend your time doing what matters most to you? Next she shows you how much real estate you'll need. The range is usually between three and ten houses, depending on how much real estate costs where you live and what your goal is. You'll learn the four ways to make money owning real estate, what rate of return is realistic to expect, and how to project the time it will take before you are financially independent. In Chapters Three and Four you'll look at various ways to obtain down payments, the pros and cons of different types of housing, how to choose between properties, and how to work with agents. You'll also learn about three easy-to-find types of sellers who will sell their properties for a discount. Chapter Five shows how lenders qualify borrowers and what you can do to increase your loan amounts. You'll discover how lenders differ, whom you should approach, if forty-year or bi-weekly mortgages are desirable, and why you may agree to a prepayment penalty clause. Chapter Six explains adjustable rate mortgages and shows how to use them to semi-retire in less than ten years. Chapter Seven presents a selection of readily available loans offered through national lenders that let you buy with no money down, without revealing your income, or without paying mortgage insurance premiums even if you put down less than 20%. Once you've found your property and lined up your loan, you'll need to find a good tenant. Suzanne explains in Chapter Eight how to advertise your property, screen callers, run credit checks, decide whether or not to accept pets, and how to decide if a tenant is good enough. In Chapter Nine you'll learn what type of insurance to get, if you should include appliances, what an emergency reserve fund is, how to time maintenance, and whether or not to hire a property manager. Chapter Ten discusses the clauses in a sample lease, and Chapter Eleven shares the requirements for exchanging your properties using 1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges. If you are a beginning or intermediate real estate investor, this book will help you succeed and make your dreams come true.
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| Reviews | |
I recently picked up this book and was wonderfully surprised to see a simple approach to real estate investing. The book explains basic ideas for the new investor as well as more advanced ideas for the seasoned investor. My wife and I own two properties, and this book gives ideas we have never thought of before. Whether you are a beginner or a sophisticated investor, this is a book from which you can learn a great deal. It's nice to read a how-to book by an author who has experienced what she is writing about.
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| About the Author | |
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Suzanne P. Thomas bought her first house at age 23 and retired at age 34. She owns over $1,000,000 of real estate in Colorado and Texas. Her goal is to help other people use her real estate approach to achieve their dreams. |