The Real Book Of Real Estate

There are four reasons why I think a real book of real estate is important at this time.
First, there will always be a real estate market. In a civilized world, a roof over your head is as essential as food, clothing, energy, and water. Real estate investors are essential to keeping this vital human need available at a reasonable price. In countries where investing in real estate is limited or excessively controlled by the government, such as it was in former Communist Bloc countries, people suffer, and real estate deteriorates.
Second, there are many different ways a person can participate and prosper with real estate. For most people, their only real estate investment is where they live. Their home is their biggest investment. During the real estate boom from 2000 to 2007, many amateurs got involved with flipping houses—buying low and hoping to sell higher. As you know, many flippers flopped and lost everything. In true investor vocabulary, flipping is known as speculating or trading. Some people call it gambling. While flipping is one method of investing, there
are many, more sophisticated, less risky ways to do well with real estate. This book is filled with the knowledge and experiences of real, real estate investors—real estate professionals who invest rather than flip, speculate, trade, or gamble.

Third, real estate gives you control over your investments, that is, if you have the skills. In the volatile times of early 2009, millions of people were losing 1 trillions of dollars simply because they handed over control of their wealth to other people. Even since the middle of 2008, the great Warren Buffett’s fund,
Berkshire Hathaway, has lost 40 percent of its value! Millions of people have lost their jobs, which means they had no control over their own employment either. The real, real estate professionals in this book have control over both their businesses and investments. They will share their good times and the bad
times with you. They will share what they have learned while learning to control their investments and their financial destiny. The learning process is continual.

And, finally, here’s my real reason for this book. I am sick and tired of financial experts giving advice on real estate, especially when they do not actually invest in real estate. After my book Rich Dad Poor Dad came out, I was on a television program with a financial author and television personality. At the time, in 1999, the stock market was red hot with the dot-com boom. This financial expert, who was a former stockbroker and financial planner, was singing the praises of stocks and mutual funds. After the stock market crashed in 2001, this
man suddenly resurfaced with a new book on real estate, portraying himself as a real estate expert. His real estate advice was beyond bad. It was dangerous. Then the real estate market crashed and he dropped out of sight again. The last time I saw him, he had written a book on investing in solar energy and was
claiming to be a green entrepreneur. If he were to write a book about what he really does, his new book would be about raising bulls . . . and selling BS. There are other financial “experts” who know nothing about real estate, yet they speak badly about real estate and say it is risky. The only reason real estate
is risky for them is because they know nothing about investing in it. Instead, they recommend saving money and investing in a well-diversified portfolio of mutual funds—investments which I believe are the riskiest investments in the world, especially in this market. Why do they recommend investing in savings
and mutual funds? The answer is obvious: Many of these professionals are endorsed by banks, mutual fund companies, and the media. It’s good business to plug your sponsors’ businesses and products.
Commissioning this book gives the public its first chance to learn from real, real estate investors, friends, and advisors—people who have been through the ups and the downs and who walk their talk. This book gives them the opportunity to share the spotlight with the many media financial “experts” and speak the truth. These real estate experts are true pros, and you’re about to move beyond the media hype. I hope you are ready. The Real Book of Real Estate is the real deal.