1 comments about Tools & Techniques Estate Planning (Tools & Techniques).

1. Book came in great condition. Satisfied with price and free delivery. Would shop for additional titles

5 comments about Private Mortgage Investing: How to Earn 12% or More on Your Savings, Investments, IRA Accounts and Personal Equity--A Complete Resource Guide with 100s ....Secrets From the Experts Who Do It Every Day.

1. Clark and Tabacchi have created a masterpiece of an educational and supportive tool that should become a desk reference for any investor from amateur through industry mogul. By providing the reader with an organized and easy to understand manual on the otherwise opaque investing industry, Clark & Tabacchi display their expertise in this subject matter by guiding the beginning investor through the processes of choice from traditional savings through stocks and bonds on to the lucrative market of Mortgage Investing.
   The explanation of the reasoning behind the private mortgage industry that tells you why you would want to find yourself in this industry gets the juices flowing and interests peaked. Your journey includes a thorough exposure to strategies of Mortgage Investing, this resource is a must have companion.



2. This book is straightforward and gives you a tremendous amount of information about investing in private mortgages. Unlike a lot of books of the investment genre, it does not try to sell you on services provided by the authors. In fact, I wish the book had a bit more reference material for making contacts to get started with this type of investing.



3. Clark's book covers the basics that any investor will need to know, including why to choose private mortgage investing (and what your other options are) and how to go about doing it. It covers all of the different aspects of mortgages such as fees, interest rates, and even has handy tables to help you out. The appendices are the best feature as they have all the forms you will need as well as a comprehensive glossary (very useful!). This book covers everything you need to know to succeed, but were too scared to ask about. It even has case studies and examples explained with real numbers that help tie the whole thing together. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to start earning money with private mortgage investments.



4. This is a very helpful book on the topic of hard money loans. It also touches on investing in discount notes. Even an experienced investor will find some helpful nuggets of information in this book. This book not only showed me the way to safely invest & build personal wealth, but it gave me insight as a mortgage broker looking to place my clients with hard money loans. I called and spoke with co-author Matt Tabacchi recently, and he is still in business with 4 branch offices...I may even place some of my money with him to lend in Florida.
   
   



5. This is an excellent first book on the subject of private mortgage lending.
   
   If you have no idea if what private mortgage lending is about, it has enough detail for you to understand what the business is about and how to get started.
   
   In my opinion, it does not spend enough time explaining the "Gotchas". It has plenty of information to get you started but not enough to keep you out of trouble.
   
   If you are interested in engaging in this business as a lender, by all means buy this book first, but when you have read it two or three times, be aware that you need to know a lot more about troubled borrowers, real estate inspections and appraisals, real estate title problems, bankruptcy, and local forclosure laws and procedures before you start lending your own money.

No comments about Economics (18th International Edition).

5 comments about Investing in REITs: Real Estate Investment Trusts: Third Edition.

1. Most investors can point to an elite handful of teachers that they would credit for their investment success and overall knowledge of markets. Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, and perhaps John Bogle are the best-known great friends of the individual investor in our generation. I don't say this lightly, but for any investor trying to get a handle on the REIT asset class, Ralph Block is in their esteemed company.
   
   You won't find a more clearly written book about REITs anywhere, and beginning investors to hedge fund managers would be well-advised to digest everything that Ralph puts forth in his continually updated books on REITs. The metrics used to evaluate REITs, the forces which make them rise and fall, and their tax implications are different enough from other asset classes that any conscientious investor should keep this book handy. Ralph does a masterful job of making this fine asset class easier to understand, and he helps investors know where to spot risk, growth, management excellence and ultimately, opportunity.
   
   REITs have gone from being an undiscovered backwater in the investment world (perhaps because so many real estate limited partnerships in the 1980's were indeed toxic waste) but today they are clearly mainstream. Investors need to understand what they own, and Ralph's book helps readers understand exactly that. He writes in a clear, succinct fashion that is manna from heaven for both the new investor and private equity guy alike. People focusing on P/E ratios, MACD divergences and EBITDA would be well-served to invest a little time and a teensy amount of money in this book to get a handle on AFFOs, NAVs, and most importantly, great REIT management teams.
   
   Ralph is a looong-time REIT investor, has been a top-rated REIT fund manager and he has a unique perspective on this important asset class. His contributions to REIT understanding have been recognized by NAREIT (the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts) and by many individual investors through his books and his well-received contributions on The Motley Fool message boards. Feel confident that purchasing his book is a good decision on your part.



2. More and more financial advisers suggest investing in REITs. But are they another real-estate investment fad, like the "real estate limited partnerships" of the 1980s? Not at all, says Ralph L. Block, an experienced REIT portfolio manager and former securities attorney. In this clear, sensible book, Block provides an engaging overview of REITs and the underlying real-estate market in which they invest. Block's self-deprecating, casual style is refreshing, and the book assumes little background knowledge of finance, economics or real estate (though it does bog down occasionally in accounting minutiae). In addition to learning about REITs, you'll also get a painless refresher on investment basics at no extra cost. We recommend this book to prudent, buy-and-hold investors who want to know if REITs are right for them.



3. I came across the first edition of this book in my local library (along with Mullaney's book on REITs). That edition hit all the right notes, and as expected from someone who manages an REIT fund, Block reserves considerable space in the book for his pitch for the REIT as a great investment vehicle. Overall, I found the first edition to be balanced, even-handed and a solid introduction to the REIT, though I did have a few criticisms about REITs in general. These are the following:
   
   1. REITs generally are high yield investments. Block failed to address the common dangers associated with any high yield investment, and he did not mention any specific means for the investor (particularly small investors like myself) to shield these juicy yields from the tax man. In passing, over the long term, I am of the opinion that carefully selected REITs will provide an adequate total return, and the prudent small investor would do well to include a select few of them in a Roth IRA.
   
   2. Block tries to compare REITs with other income producing stocks, and generally fails in this regard. Though REITs have similarities to utilities and preferred stock (the one over-riding similarity being the fat yield), there are too many differences between REITs and other income producing investments to make a fair comparison.
   
   3. I believe that an REIT should be evaluated as a common stock first, and then as a real estate play second, rather than the other way around, as Block preferred to do. Granted, the basic nature of the activity should be taken into account, but one should never forget that the publicly traded REIT is a stock. That said, less attention should be paid to the FFO (funds from operation) or AFFO and more should be paid to net income. FFO can be gamed, as Block correctly pointed out, by the creative interpretation as to what constitutes depreciation (FFO is typically defined as net income, less capital gains on sale of real estate, plus depreciation).
   
   4. Block correctly identified the importance of capital structure for the REIT, and did a good job of explaining the REITs need for capital infusions. Intelligent investors in this activity would do well to keep in mind that institutional players get to participate in REITs as either bond-holders or preferred holders, and thus they get sweeter deals than the little guy, who, unless he participates through a mutual fund, will almost always participate as a common stock holder. Moreover, the little guy gets paid his dividend AFTER the institutional players get their cut. Also, I disagree with Block's notion that market cap is a good indicator of REIT capitalization. Essentially, I feel that REIT capitalization is best measured by the balance sheet ( debt load plus cash position and equity), and while not the best measure of capitalization, it is, in my opinion (which granted ain't worth much)better than the use of a subjective measure which changes as market conditions change.
   
   5. I found it odd that Block did not mention the importance of cash flow for the REIT. At a minimum, the REIT has to be able to service its debts. An REIT with a weak cash position and cash flow constraints can not deliver a fat yield for long. Intelligent investors in this activity would do well to be very wary of an REIT that pays out more in dividends than it actually earns in net income per share. An outfit doing this is generally eroding its cash position, thus weakening its ability to service its debts and making it vulnerable to adverse external conditions.
   
   6. My last point is perhaps the most important. The little guy looking to profit in this space is up against 1) insttitutional players who can get sweeter deals as mentioned before and 2) real estate pros who are closer to the various real estate markets and eat, sleep and breathe real estate 24/7. The little guy would do well to know market cycles, specific property types and demographic trends very well before looking at REIT investments. Also, the pros more typically have access to a greater variety and volume of information than is typical in more traditional common stock investment, so on that score, the small investor is fairly well disadvantaged. Thus, I am of the opinion that REIT investment may require a lot more work for a little extra gain, so it is best to dabble lightly in this space.
   
   In sum, this book, now in its third edition, makes for a good starting point for REIT investment. In passing, a more accessible, albeit dated text on REIT investment is John A. Mullaney's REITs: Building Profits with Real Estate Investment Trusts. Those of you looking to invest with safety and success in this space would do well to pick up the latter book and memorize Chapter 16 of the text word for word.



4. Great book for someone trying to get a basic understanding of REITs written from an investor's perspective.



5. After doing lots of reading from investing books, I wanted to learn more about the REIT asset class of investments. This book had some good information, but the main information I was looking for was how taxes are reported and why they are fairly complicated. The author only gave a two page appendix on taxes. I felt like he spent way too much time on why you should invest in REIT's and the aspects of when to buy and what to look for individual REIT's and not the big picture of owning REIT's in an mutual fund or REIT index fund. I was more concerned on how taxes affect your investment's location (Taxable vs. Tax Advantaged) and that was totally ignored. Dissapointed.

1 comments about Investing with Intelligent ETFs: Strategies for Profiting from the New Breed of Securities.

1. This book by Max Isaacman is one of his finest. He writes in a manner that the lay person has an ability to grasp, since the material is usually difficut to follow. I highly recommend this book for all investors new and old.

5 comments about Understanding Stocks.

1. While this book MENTIONS many basics of investing, it fails to aptly discuss many, most, or all of them. The author, quite frankly, really fails to discuss, to any understandable length, many fundamental analysis items to include such notables as earnings per share, quarterly earnings growth, and book value. He doesn't discuss in any appreciable detail what each of these mean. He fails to inform the reader what degrees in any of these metrics an investor should look to gain or avoid. He does mention them, but fails to give them any study in detail and worthiness.
   
   As far as technical analysis goes, he sticks with his technique of mentioning items of interest without explaining them to any appreciable depth. He really fails to describe, in any usable detail, how bands or moving averages can be used, or how they are used by some. He has illustrative charts to demonstrate typical named historical patterns, but his narrative is poor. Additionally, he fails to highlight the areas on the charts he writes of and therefore fails to make anything clear. This analysis of historical patterns was very cryptic.
   
   In the end he proposes, in about a page, and not in very good narrative, one system for investing that really is not only not generally achievable, it's not really generally feasible.
   
   If your goal is to read a book to explain the basics of the stock markets, stock measuring, and knowledge needed for investing, please look elsewhere.



2. I am a finance major and wanted a quick overview of the stock market. This book was fantastic. It covered more material than any other book on the shelf. Very detailed and very entertaining. (I noticed that it's listed on our supplemental reading list so the teacher knows it's a good book). 5 stars.



3. Received the book in excellent condition and as described. Just needs to send an update via email of when the book was shipped.



4. First of all, let me say that I did get a lot out of this book. As someone new to investing, it answered some of my questions, but not all. My main complaint is that it's descriptions are not always clear. For example, when describing a Head and Shoulders Pattern (page 120) the reader is refered to a figure as an example. This is great, except that the author does not tell the reader where to look in the figure. Thus, the explaination has little value, unless you know what this pattern looks like in the first place. It would have been nice to include a glossary of terms, especially for fundamental analysis, even if these terms were not discussed in detail in the text.
   
   My recommendation would be to get this book if you want a quick introduction to stocks. Be prepared to invest in additional references if you want to make sense of your broker's quotes.



5. I am just starting to invest and this book contained great groundwork and information. Easy to read and follow the concepts.

3 comments about Message Matters: Succeeding at the Crossroads of Mission and Market.

1. You have to know WHAT you want do to before you can TELL others in a way that can help them do what YOU WANT them do to. Message Matters delivers a simple roadmap for how a business or a nonprofit can figure out what they do and explain it in a way that moves their audiences to take action. The examples really drive home the effectiveness of a good message.



2. This book is different than anything I've seen on the market and is a "must read" for any organization. It demonstrates a simple and powerful process for creating messages that prompt target audiences to actually act.Interestingly, it emphasizes that the ability to craft effective messages is a basic leadership capacity rather than something to delegate to the communications department. The author has given us a great roadmap to reach our constituency.



3. This book clearly outlines communication strategies that can be employed by ALL nonprofit professionals, regardless of their previous communication experience or the size of the organization they work for. As a program manager at a small organization, I found this book to be an invaluable tool in understanding the demand for more effective messaging and my role in message development and delivery. I highly recommend this book to others in the nonprofit sector no matter what their role in the organization.

5 comments about The Weekend Millionaire's Secrets to Investing in Real Estate: How to Become Wealthy in Your Spare Time.

1. Nothing is left to chance in this book. I have found myself reading chapters over and over! David W.



2. It was my first book on real estate that I read and I thought is was perfect for that. High level stuff that introduces the reader to the key concepts in real estate. Lacks detail of the actual how to part but I don't believe it was intended for that. You will need to read other books to enhance your skills but this really gives you the big picture. I also love this book because it is not a get rich quick book. They tell you how to build long term wealth not quick cash. Since reading this book I have continued to read many others on real estate and leveraging but I recommend this to people as a great first or second read.



3. I made 200k with my first real estate deal. I am hoping to do maybe one more later this year.



4. An excellent book for the Cash Flow oriented investor. It offers real life buying samples and the structure of the deal. One chapter covers the importance of the Net Operating Income and the cash flow of your investment. Another area of importance is the Letter of Intent to Purchase Property, where it assist you and your realtor to get multiple offers presented to different sellers at the same time. I'm a fan of Robert T Kiyosaki and I believe that this book has alot to offer.



5. This is one of the first REI books I've read and I continue to go back to it for motivation and information. I started investing in 2003 and since then I have purchased 4 single-family homes all with a positive cashflow. I now have a net worth of over half a million. Their style of REI is to buy decent, rentable properties and rent them out for the long term without having to deal with landlording. If you had someone paying your mortgage, wouldn't that make you happy? Now if you were able to have 10 people paying off 10 of your mortgages, that will make you wealthy. Also, what these authors do that others don't is they host FREE live chat rooms and information on their website. Other authors charge you several hundred dollars for the same mentorship. I was very impressed with the information and I will continue to acquire homes, turn my trickle of monthly cashflow into multiple streams of massive wealth, not to mention the appreciation and equity you will gain by having others pay your mortgages. Great book, buy it!

5 comments about The Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing.

1. This book is comprehensive. It covers a lot of topics about real estate investing. Furthermore, it offers tips and tricks on how successful investors were able to pull off their deals. Something that is hard to come by, as many real estate authors aren't really investors.
   
   Just a side note -- if you're an expert, you'd probably learn something from this, but overall you would be bored. So don't buy it thinking your going to get a "for experts" book, this is for beginners. Those that have not made their mark on the real estate market yet.
   
   -Matt
   co-author of the Ultimate Foreclosure Kit



2. This is truly a good start to real estate investing because it covers a lot of different business models. I know many of us here come from a real estate agent background where our jobs are to sell for other people. This book kinda opens up your eyes to the rest of the real estate industry, where people are making more money by bypassing the real estate agent side.
   
   This was one of the first books I've ever read on real estate and I highly recommend it. I have some other recommendations, see my other reviews.



3. Eldred has set this book up for what he considers to be a beginner. He does not take you by the hand and walk you through all the vocabulary or every aspect of the business. For example, if you don't know what owner financing is, expect to take a few pages to figure it out on your own.
   
   Another problem I had with this book is that I am pretty sure that some of his methods for financing are illegal. He lives by the "They won't ask, and you don't tell" philosopy. He is also a big believer in no money down loan financing. I have seen A LOT of people get into trouble this way: it promotes get rich quick idealism and before you know it, you're in over your head.
   
   However, there are a few things I did like, Eldred has experience, and gives pros and cons for ALMOST every one of his suggestions. While some of his financing ideas no one in their right mind should try, the rest are well presented and worth considering. He also breaks down the equation (math) side of things and gives examples to make it easier to understand.
   
   Some useful stuff, but not what I was hoping for.



4. Not a bad read --definitely skewed towards beginners. Good in terms of its scope. You might be interested in looking into these: The WealthLoop Series Beginner's Guide to Building Wealth Buying Houses: The Foolproof Roadmap to Real Estate Riches Without the Risks and Hassles of Landlording, and the companion CD; The WealthLoop Series Beginner's Guide to Building Wealth Buying Houses (Combo Audio/Data CD): Author's Audio Commentary Plus Downloadable 32-page Marketing Manual, Checklists, Spreadsheets, and Forms.
   
   A related program is:
   
   The WealthLoop Series Beginner's Guide to Personal Wealth Creation (Combo Audio/Data CD): Audio Seminar With Downloadable 40-Page Action Manual and Active Link Library.



5. I am a brand new investor, investing in real estate in the Miami-Dade/ Broward County areas. I have read several articles on real estate and also have listened to CD's on wholesaling, foreclosures, and other such topics. This is the first actual book I have read on any real estate subject. I have found that this book has been very easy to follow and comprehend.
   
   The author is really informative and not only discusses how he invests, but he gives voice to alternatives. I have been attending the local real estate investor's meetings, so with my limited knowledge, I can ascertain that the author is in fact a professional in this field and not just another person trying to become a millionaire by repeating techniques that (he) hasn't utilized, himself.
   
   I recommend this book to all real estate investors that are just beginning in this field. This book does not go into step by step detail on how-to do certain deals, however, it gives an overall understanding, for the beginner to better make a decision on which area of real estate they would like to invest in. I, myself have now narrowed my interest parameters to other subjects that I was not interested in prior to reading. Overall I give this book, 5 stars. It sets a higher bar for any book that I read hereinafter.

No comments about Venture Forth! The Essential Guide to Starting a Moneymaking Business in Your Nonprofit Organization.