The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor's Kit: How to Make Money Buying Distressed Real Estate -- Before the Public Auction

This was written in 2005, so the information is a little dated. Still good information though. Well organized and easy to read.

In the beginning I want to scold the purblisher WILEY. They appear to cutting costs by using 50% less ink than norm. The print is fine and hard to read. Now the postive stuff.This is one of the most complete instruction manuals for an real estate investor. In this case the foreclosure business. A business it is, not a simple passive investment, but a hands on business that will take up your Holidays, Saturdays and Sundays. I am not trying to disccourage you, but to prepare you for a businesw that once you have developed and learned all the skills required, may become a full time business, so that in the future you can use Saturdays and Sundays for rest.This author doesn't skip over anything, but reveals what you must know to make a profit. There is money to be made, but there is no glossing over or fluff because this author has no package program to sell except his book.He indicate all the places to go to find the information you will need to be successfulWhen doing your research remember to trust no one, assume nothing, and verify everything.In business endeavors, there is a difference between how business is perceied by the public; then there is the way that business functions are supposed to work in theory (what is taught in school); and then there is the way that business functions work in reality.One important point is not to contact owners cold. They have already been contacted by a dozen before you. Picture an owner, if their property is in foreclosure, ansering the doorbell and standing before him is a clown with aa giant grin saying I am here to help you as if the owner hasn't heard it a dozen times before.By Lambert Munz Author of House Investor's Manual

First off, bear with my poor written English, which always offends some native English-speakers when it happens to be their bad hair day. :))This is an excellent book, I like the writing style: straightforward and no-nonsense. People may found it a little dry if they expect this book to motivate them get into this pre-foreclosure investment business.This book is very practical and informative, but to able to make the most use of it, you'd better have some knowledge in real estate, at least in general. Otherwise, reading this book may be too easy or too hard to you, both because you do not understand the fundamentals.Here is how I plan to use this book :1 To locate a worthwhile pursuing pre-foreclosure property in my county2 follow the guide from this book to check the information about this property (title, loan status etc.)3 do my best to contact/negotiate with the owner ( I am not good at this, so needs practice)4 If I fail, I will repeat the process with another one.

As a consultant to other professionals, I am blown away by the amount of useful information provided in this book. It is not easy to write this type of "manual". It represents many years of actual experience. Putting that on paper is a difficult task.Those that want to get rich quickly by being taken by the hand and lead down a path to riches won't like it. It is too revealing and damaging to their notions. However, for the "doers" out there who want to be properly educated, they will find this book to be wonderfully helpful.The book is worth many times its cost just as a resource for other information. Research and informational website addresses are gven throughout the book. The online forms/letters library the author gives away FREE to buyers of his book, is extremely useful... and valuable. This alone will save me many dozens of hours and is therefore worth thousands. However, dreamers will find it worthless.Real estate investing is NOT an investment... it is a BUSINESS. Viewed in this light, serious real estate professionals need this business manual. It is simply excellent.

OK, let's face it. Foreclosures in this country are going to be a serious issue in the next few years. And it will be no one's fault but the lenders who took on the added risk of investing in too many questionable loans, and the borrowers who had no idea what they were getting into.Having invested in these properties, and being a real estate sales agent with investors looking for such properties, the search processes Thomas Luccier suggests to find these properties are good. I have been using them and a few others for several years now. His foreclosure letters are powerful...perhaps too intimidating. The spreadsheets are great, I have actually replaced a couple of mine with his!Overall, I find the book usefull more so for a new investor, but valuable nonetheless even for experienced investors like myself. I'm sure I'll refer to it again in the future.

As a relatively new real estate investor, I am trying to learn from the successes and mistakes of others. I also want a competitive advantage. As soon as I saw this book on Amazon back in November 2004, it was not yet available so I pre-ordered it as it appeared to be one of the few in-depth books on pre-foreclosures. I was not disappointed in the least. It contains step-by-step instructions and valuable must-know information for people wanting to pursue the pre-foreclosure market. It is the step-by-step detail that is the most important to me as I'm still in the process of trying to get my business running smoothly.In short, I'm grateful that the author chose to write this book and make his knowledge available to those who want to learn from one of the best. Well worth the purchase price and, now that I've read it and use it as a reference, I would have paid much more than the retail price to get this book.

very nice