Review of "How to invest in real estate"
One of my goals that I set forth Monday the 12th was to read "How to invest in real estate and post a short summary. First, let me say that this book is by no means an all-encompassing, in-depth guide to every facet of real estate. I am most certainly not an author nor am I the authors of this book but I am fairly certain that this was on purpose. I believe this book is meant instead to expose you to the many different aspects of real estate investing and get you to, as is so well put in chapter 1, "ask better questions"
The book jumps right into the fray in chapter 1 by answering 9 of what the authors identify as the most commonly asked questions in their experience, and they are some good questions. Questions such as, "can I invest in real estate in real estate and have a full-time job", "can I invest in real estate if I have little or no money and poor credit", as well as several other questions are answered and examples given and in case you are wondering, yes, you can invest in real estate and have a full-time job, you can invest with little of your own money, and no, real estate is not a get rich quick scheme. This chapter serves to get you thinking and wanting to learn more. The authors then guide you through 9 chapters that cover things like "the horror story that is most people's lives". This hit home for me as I saw myself prior to my eye-opening read of "Rich Dad/Poor Dad" in a lot of what the authors described. This 2nd chapter explains concepts such as having a strong financial foundation, budgeting, how net worth is established as well as total profit. The 5 expense categories of a good budget are detailed as is the category flow of most people as well as category flow of the wealthy and those that understand how money works. I have to admit, I had already created a budget prior to reading this book but it was interesting reading about creating your FSP, financial spending plan, and being cautioned that if you dont have your foundation in order (your financial IQ and stewardship of money) you should not even think about investing in real estate.
From chapter 2 you move into chapter 3 where the authors lead you through "getting your ducks in a row". This includes explaining what a good real estate investment team looks like as well as detailing the different legal and financial entities that investors should be familiar with. Several action items came out of this chapter for me, including finding additional information on LLCs and subchapter S corporations. The authors do a great job explaining the concepts and giving examples as well as getting making me hungry to learn more. Chapter 4 and 5 then move you into investment niches as well as investment strategies where different investment strategies such as buy and hold, flipping, wholesaling, etc. are explained in good detail and a lot of the lingo that investors should know are introduced. Things like ROI, return on investment, the 1 and 2% test, the 50% rule, the 70% rule for flipping, as well as many others are introduced. My favorite thus far, and the strategy that I will follow, the BRRR method, is explained here as well (Buy, Rehab, Refinance, Repeat)
The remaining chapters walk you through how to find your deals, introducing you to the LAPS funnel structure for finding deals (Leads, Analysis, Propose, Success) as well as many strategies for finding leads such as driving for dollars, walking for dollars, direct mail marketing, and many more. How to fund your deal is introduced and numerous concepts are introduced and explained including traditional loans, hard money, private money, portfolio lending, syndication, and many more. There is such a large range of information and the authors do a great job of presenting the material in such a way as to make it informative and entertaining and always making you want to know more.
By the time I finished the 9th and final chapter of this book I found that I had learned a great deal in regards to real estate investing as well as gained a newfound respect on how much I just do not know, but also a consuming hunger to learn and as the book says "get off my butt, find my most important next step, and make it happen." I have started on my path to getting my financial life in order, have chosen my next book, will be reading "Your money or your life" which was recommended to me by a fellow bigger pockets member but this book has fired me up to learn even more and put that learning into action.
This book is a fantastic read, explains concepts in such a way as they can be easily grasped, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is new to real estate and wants to learn how to get started as well as what real estate investing is really about. I hope this review helps someone, it has helped me to ensure that I dug deep into the book and really learned what was being taught so that I can review it. If anybody expresses interest, I will also post a review of "Your money or your life" and answer whatever questions I can, just please keep in mind that I am very new to this path, all my knowledge is book based at this point, and I have no actual deals under my belt...yet, but if I can help, I most certainly will.