I’ve listened to and read a few books on real estate investing and they are starting to sound the same. Lots of rah rah about why real estate is a good investment and the need to find a motivated seller, etc. Can anyone recommend books that have a bit more substance? I need to know exactly what happens after someone says OK I’ll sell you a house cheap.
Before you get to the point where a HO agrees to sell, you need to know what you plan to do with the property, and you have to have either 1)money in the bank, 2)cash buyers lined up to take the property off your hands immediately, 3)money partners/financing in place. There are plenty of articles and books referenced to the left of this screen to break it down for you.
Remember though, books are good, but they aren’t really going to give you “substance.” You should hook up with a couple of experienced REI’s in your area, take them to lunch and see if you can get one of them to mentor you. If you have time, offer to do a little grunt work for them (paper shuffling) in exchange for them sharing their time and experience with you.
I agree, books will never give you the substance you are looking for. It is time to invest in a real estate course. They cost much more, but gives you the substance you are looking for.
A Real Estate book with no motivational talk is not worth much. After six properties I can say motivation is one of the most important things needed in a Real Estate Investor. Getting a loan through can be a horrible experience, but a motivated person gets things done that a non-motivated person can’t, regardless of credit or income. They can get things done because of the things/stories they have read about from books.
I wouldn’t expect to learn a lot of step by step instructions from books. But you will find that motivating a spouse or yourself is critical.
larsonec,
I agree with you that most of the gurus have too much rah-rah crap in their books. You can not get motivation from a book, at least not motivation that will last. What you really need is the cold hard facts as it pertains to the subject that you’re intersted in. Many of the gurus leave out all the negative stuff because they don’t want to hamper their sales. Unfortunately, leaving the new investor without the truth (about expenses and other stuff) results in the new investor being doomed to fail.
I would suggest trying to decide what you want to do after a buyer agrees to sell you the house. Do you want to wholesale? Rehab and retail? Rent? Determine what you want to do and then find a book that focuses on that area. As the others have said, joining your local REIA is a MUST!
Mike
Shemin and Bronchik wrote some decent books.
Yes, you are right. Books can rarely help us gain real experience (the most important thing in REI).
But at least, for newbie, they can help to shape our mind!
You will become what you always think of!
Read books whenever you feel frustrated, hopeless! Join and learn from real RE investors in your local REIA to find out how to do right thing and thing right!