I firmly believe that real estate is THE best investment that a person can have. Everybody should have some real estate presence in his or her portfolio. There is simply no other investment that can give you the level of security and control that real estate can.

This book is designed for BOTH NOVICE AND EXPERIENCED investors. Read through the various strategies, see the pros and cons of each, and decide which one seems best suited for you. If you have never invested before, I would recommend buying a couple of long-term buy-and-hold rentals and then branch out from there. Experienced investors can benefit from the tips and hard-earned advice that I give about those strategies they already know, plus they can investigate other strategies that they might like to tackle.

There are as many strategies in the real estate world as there are investors. For the most part, the myriad array of different strategies in the real estate world can get boiled down to:

1. Fix and flip
2. Changing the use of an existing building
3. New property construction
4. Parceling land together
5. Land development
6. Long-term buy-and-hold (i.e., buy something and rent it out)
7. Condo conversion
8. Commercial buildings

This book will explain:

1. What each of these strategies are,
2. How people can make or lose money on them,
3. What the pitfalls of each strategy are, and
4. Tips and advice from my actual real life experience.

There are certainly some great real estate books on the market but I find that most of them focus on a) How to buy your first rental property, b) How to fix and flip or c) How to be a better landlord. I think those stories have been well told.

I also find most real estate books to be too good to be true. All you have to do is this and this and you will be a millionaire within a year. Deals never go bad. Money is made every time. This is not the reality. There will ups and downs, especially early on, as you learn the ropes.

Finally, with most of the books that I have read, the case studies are usually made up. They make assumptions and use numbers that work out great but aren’t based in reality. It seems to me if an author is presenting themselves as an expert they should have a wealth of experience to back it up.

It is the goal of this book to introduce the reader to all of the major real estate investment strategies objectively, warts and all, and to give real-life case studies. ALL OF THE CASE STUDIES IN THIS BOOK ARE REAL. They are based on actual properties that I have owned over the years and I will use the actual dollar figures from those deals.

What will you get from this book? HONESTY. That is the major goal. You will gain insight from someone who has done multiple deals within each of these strategies. I tell it like it is. Since I became a full-time real estate investor over 17 years ago (as of the writing of this book), my wife and I have personally, owned over 92 different properties with over 236 suites. From raw land to single-family homes to duplexes to fourplexes to apartment buildings from 6 units up to 21 units, we have owned a wide variety of properties.

You will learn what to do and what not to do within each strategy in order to save yourself time and money and to maximize your chance of success.

You will be able to COMPARE THE STRATEGIES and make an informed decision as to what works best for you given your experience, the amount of money you have to invest and your starting point. Whether you are just getting started or have years of experience, everyone can benefit from the wealth of advice in this book.

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents:

1. Fix and Flip,
2. Changing the Use of An Existing Building,
3. New Property Construction,
4. Parceling Land Together,
5. Land Development,
6. Long-Term Buy-and-Hold,
7. Condo Conversion,
8. Commercial Building,
9. Flip vs. Long-Term Hold,
10. A Super Strategy,
11. Closing Remarks,
12. Glossary,
13. Index.