Table of Contents
To my wife, Jan, whose investment has been her confidence in me
Acknowledgments
To Glenn Hoffer, Real Estate Editor of the Fort Lauderdale News, for printing the series of twenty-four investment real estate articles I have written. It was the response to that series that prompted the writing of this book.
About the Author
Milt Tanzer is the president and founder of Milt Tanzer Corporation, a real estate software and educational programs company started in 1975 and devoted to professional solutions to almost every real estate need imaginable. Tanzer has been a Realtor and real estate broker specializing in commercial/investment real estate since 1969 and has given live seminars on real estate investing to the general public, as well as professionals in the real estate field.
Tanzer was awarded the prestigious designation of Certified Commercial Investment Member of the National Association of Realtors and served as a member of the board of directors, as well as chairman of professional standards and education chairman of his local Board of Realtors. He is a frequent speaker at Realtor conventions, apartment building-owner meetings, investor club meetings, and elsewhere, and has been interviewed on various radio and TV programs. His previous publications include How to Buy or Sell Your Home Without a Broker (Prentice Hall Press, 2002).
Tanzer is a graduate of Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, with a bachelors degree in business administration and is married with three grown children. More information on his real estate programs is available online at www.investmentre.com and www.realestate-supermarket.com.
What This Book Will Do for You
Have you ever wondered why the rich seem to get richer, without really trying, while you struggle to save enough money for retirement some day? Have you heard investors talk about real estate and come away convinced that real estate investing is a high risk, mysterious rich mans game that only the experts can play?
Thanks to Real Estate Investments and How to Make Them, you can at last get into the real estate game and take advantage of the finest opportunity available for building your wealth. This comprehensive guide shows you why real estate is the best investment in todays economic climate and how to build a sound, solid investment program that makes inflation work for you instead of against you.
When Real Estate Investments and How to Make Them appeared on the market in 1981, it met with instant success resulting in thirteen printings. Letters continue to come in praising the book. Here are brief excerpts from a few of them:
Ive read other real estate investment books at twice the cost but yours is the first one that really makes sense.
Real Estate Investments and How to Make Them shall be my real estate Bible and certainly will be a stepping stone to the performance of my goals... your step-by-step approach to resolving matters pertaining to real estate investing staggers the mind.
Ive tried many methods and forms for analyzing a real estate investment. Yours is by far the best Ive found.
I was afraid your book would be over my head... but the way you present it, anyone can understand it and become successful in real estate investing.
In plain, everyday English, Real Estate Investments and How to Make Them takes you step-by-step through every phase of real estate investing. Youll see how to establish your investment objectives and analyze, purchase, and manage your investment property. If you are a first time investor, this book will show you how to get started. If you are already a real estate investor, youll discover a wealth of ideas and techniques to make your investment program even more profitable.
In 1987, the tax laws were changed, completely revising the tax consequences of real estate ownership. It is for this reason that Real Estate Investments and How to Make Them has been completely revised to include the most recent tax and depreciation law changes of 1987. This book shows you in detail how the current laws affect your profits. Illustrated examples help you make the highest after-tax profit on your real estate, both while you own it and when you sell.
Real Estate Investments and How to Make Them is not just another get rich quick book on real estate. Instead, it helps you steer clear of dubious promises and unusual, high risk investments, while showing you how to make sound investment decisions. Here is just a sample of the practical help you can expect to find:
How real estate investments can help you avoid the inflation trap when you are planning your retirement program.
Where to locate sources of investment capitalincluding some sources you probably didnt know you had.
How to buy property with little or no cash down.
How to find the investment property thats right for you.
How to use a sound, systematic method for analyzing your prospective investment to verify income and expenses and determine the maximum price you can afford to pay.
How creative financing techniques can give you countless ways to buy real estate.
How to make the tax laws work for you.
How to negotiate the purchase and close the deal.
How to sell your property and how to time the sale to your advantage.
How a professional can gain tremendous tax benefits by owning his own professional building and leasing it to his professional corporation.
How to pyramid your investments so that building a substantial estate may be not only possible but inevitable.
Real Estate Investments and How to Make Them is complete with checklists, charts, forms, and everyday examples that streamline the process of acquiring, managing, and selling your investment property. As your real estate investment program grows, youll refer to this book again and again for workable ideas and sound advice. You will realize that you too can become a part of that elite group of real estate investorsand you dont have to be wealthy or an expert to do it.
REGARDING THE FACTS AND FIGURES USED IN THIS BOOK
Real estate investing, like the economy and stock market, varies from week to week and from day to day. Whatever figures we use in explaining how to analyze a real estate investment are bound to vary accordingly. The market conditions also vary from place to place and city to city. You may review the examples here and realize they dont match what is happening in your city. They are either too high or too low.
Important point: The real estate investment techniques you learn in this course do not vary with the economy! The numbers may change, but the method for analyzing the fair market value of an investment property remains the same. All you have to do is revise your figures to match the economic conditions at the time you are considering the purchase of a property.
We attempt to make all of our examples typical of the average market at the time of publication. If you find that your market area has higher or lower operating expenses than we used or rental rates are higher or lower than our examples, use your IPP property analysis program to revise the numbers. If real estate prices are higher or lower in your market area than in our examples, again, revise the numbers to reflect your current market conditions.