The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings 2nd Edition

I found this book to be a quick read that was clear and concise. unlike many books of this topic this one was not heavily weighed down with short stories how the author made a million dollars on a specific deal. Each chapter was finished of with a recap to solidify lessons learned. This book did a good job at introducing 5 very common formulas that are used in the valuation of properties that you may not be familiar with from single family homes perspective. The book does get a bit light on the back-end as it got away from the real purpose behind the book and dabbled in the why you should "do it". by a percentage this last chapter was nominal and could be skipped altogether. Having read more than a half a dozen books on this subject this is one of the better ones where i wasn't trying to skim past the fat to get to the meat of the subject.I recommend this book if you are not in need of a pep talk in order to get started. i consider the fact that you are reading the book as evidence enough that you are taking action and don't need to hear all of the benefits to take the next step.

I bought this book, along with two others, after some careful research into real estate investing books on Amazon (customer ratings, reviews, etc.). These were part of a Christmas present several years ago to my younger brother who is working hard - very hard, actually - to break into the real estate investment world. I wanted to report back that he found this book informative and insighful and still refers to them today from time to time. I had been over at his house this weekend, and he actually mentioned the presents, and told me that he actually found some useful info in this book, and that it wasn't just another get-rich-quick or uninformed hack job, both of which are so prevalent in real estate literature (and have been for years, as you probably know). So, I can say that I definitely recommend this book to anyone - especially someone starting out in the field of real estate investment properties.

Although some of the info is outdated, this book still provides great insights.

I bought this book a number of years ago. I already owned five houses and some small multi-family properties. This book opened my eyes to a new understanding of income stream valuation. With individual homes and small multi-family units, your capital appreciation is limited by the comparable properties in the area. Having a higher rent doesn't make any real difference. With larger multi-family properties you can increase the value substantially by finding a poorly run property and managing it better. This may involve renovation or it may simply be a matter of understanding and achieving market rents.After buying this book I bought a 6 unit property, a 21 unit property, a 22 unit property and now have a 44 unit under contract which will take my portfolio over 100 units. I'm refinancing my 21 and 22 unit properties and pulling out enough equity that I'll be able to buy the 44 unit without any cash out of pocket.Steve's spreadsheet product has been very helpful in evaluating properties for a number of different variables many of which are also used by lenders which allows you to talk the same language when you seek financing. The reason I gave the book 4 stars as opposed to 5 is that the time frames he suggests based on a 20% increase in value just aren't typical due to the costs of buying and selling. You need more like a 35-40% increase to trade up. That said, the theory works, it just takes longer.

This book made me realize the whole point that I got into commercial apartments was to get away from owning 100 homes...but I was on a path to own 100 apartments, not anymore. Scaling up rather than out! The case studies are amazing and being from Michigan, I was able to relate to a number of them.

This book was so helpful and given me a better understanding about real estate. It showed me some areas I needed to learn and grow in.

This book devotes a fair amount of time on valuation from a beginners standpoint. Overall good, easy and quick read. The case studies and examples appear a stretch. The author suggest that the sweet spot is to find a property with 20% vacancy, a few minor cosmetic issues. It then claims that that by leveraging a 80% LTV, the owner, in a short period of time can increase the vale and sell for a healthy premium. Hmmm... I want to see Steve Berges try this in Chicago or New York metro areas.As a relatively new property investor, I found the book useful and would recommend to others. I purchased and downloaded the software at thevalueplay.com which is adequate to complement the book's instruction bias. However, buyers beware, these are password protected Excel spreadsheets with macros and without the ability to add formulas, change things here and there, they are useless.

i finished this book less than a minute ago....i am so ready to get started in acquiring properties. while reading i took notes and used a highlighter. my book's pages are no longer as clean as when it arrived. i'd recommend you buy a copy of this book if you want to get into real estate. the last chapter as well as the chapter on 'financial analysis' that mentioned the '5 key ratios you must know' gave me confidence to succeed. i've read a few other books on real estate but this book went into greater detail in explaining formulas, debt service coverage ratio, the cap rate and much more. just get a copy. you won't regret it.