When I grow up to be a big-girl investor, I'm gonna get me some apartments. This book is fantastic--excellent info and enough to get you out there into the multiplex market if you're so inclined.

---

Product Description

Investing in apartment properties is made simple in this comprehensive resource for prospective buyers on how to make smart decisions about real estate and reach financial independence. Instructions, sample cases, worksheets, and real-life examples illustrate how to find and buy good property. An introduction to the real estate market for novices complements sophisticated discussions of finding value-added properties, determining market rent, obtaining a mortgage, refinancing, and selling. The expert advice presented offers an analytical approach to assuring predictable and successful investment in an often uncertain market.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #433414 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 210 pages

Review
This book includes secrets utilized by seasoned industry professionals with guidelines and illustrations easy to follow for first time investors. -- Robert D. Falese III, Senior Vice President, GMAC Commercial Mortgage

This book is the most truthful, revealing, insightful, instructional and financially direct text on apartment property investing ever written. -- Frank C. Beck, CPA

Review

About the Author
Brian K. Friedman is a certified property manager and founder of Friedman Realty Company, a management company with more than 30 investment properties.

---

Customer Reviews

Terrific stuff
Its a very comprehensive book detailing why and how to buy income producing property in a step by step process. Definitely is different from the rest of the "no money down, get rich overnight" stuff that is out there.

The book uses a mythical 10 unit apartment building purchase as the basis of the book, going from creative ways to write an offer, how to increase the intrinsic value of that 10 unit property (beyond the basic "raise the rent, lower the expenses" mantra), how to calculate cap rates, debt service coverage ratios, etc to knowing when to re-fi, sell, and other good stuff. I can say that I learned 3-4 new things that I hadn't realized before that I intend to immediately implement in my current apartment buildings and in order to pursue other deals.

I'd recommend this book to the "advancing" investor- ie Joe Investor who owns at least 1 rental property and is looking to get into investments bigger than the dup/triplexes but not the humongous 55 unit buildings.

A pragmatic approach for achieving financial independence
As a successful part-time real estate investor, I've always been amused by the "get rich quick" real estate seminars and books that only seem to make their creators wealthy. Last month I was given a copy of this book, which I assumed fell into the above category, and reluctantly agreed to read it. Well, I was wrong. Mr. Friedman provides the reader with all the tools to evaluate, purchase, and operate smaller residential properties in a systematic way. You won't become Donald Trump overnight, but if you follow his methodology, you will achieve a measure of financial independence that good real estate investors enjoy.

Best I've Found Thus Far
Of the three books I've read on investing in multi-family real estate, this is by far the best. The author does a good job of walking the reader through from start to finish the purchase of a representative property. In the appendix the author provides several very easy to understand and useful financial analysis templates which can easily be recreated in Excel or any other spreadsheet program.