Customer Reviews

Clark Smart Real Estate: The Ultimate Guide to Buying and Selling Real Estate

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found that this book offers clear and concise tips for many areas pertaining to real estate. We are considering selling our home and I have gained some great pointers that I would not have thought of on my own. This book has the same "Clark-smartness" that comes across on his radio show and other books. Highly recommend.

Book was a good primer; brief and general, but I wanted more specifics in certain areas; overall, it's a good reference book to keep on your shelf for a quick refresher.

Let me first say that I am a HUGE fan of Clark Howard. I love his show and listen to it every day. I go to his website for advice and information and enjoy hearing his commentary.

However, I really feel that this book was a waste of time for me to read, and I'm no real estate expert. I was hoping to get more in-depth information on real estate investing. This as more of an intro to real estate book for dummies. This would be great for someone who knows NOTHING about buying a house and even then I felt that a lot of the advice was common sense knowledge.

Maybe I feel this way because after having listened to his show for years, maybe I've already heard most of what he has to say. Perhaps something in this book would be news to another person. I don't know, but I would not call this the "Ultimate Guide to Buying Real Estate." I just felt it was way too basic and didn't include much specific information. It would be better named "A Basic Introduction to Real Estate."

But I still love Clark!

I am a fan of Clark tips. I made my wife to read this book to get a better understanding of the real estate market. It is a very good reference book with not to many details.

Very basic. Gave me basically no knew knowledge, however, it still did help. It reiterates the basic real estate buying guidelines, that most homebuyers quickly ignore when looking for a home. So I recommend this for any homebuyer.

As a rookie in real estate investing I learned alot from this book. Clark Howard's writing style is easy to read and understand.

Sound, practical advice for anyone buying real estate. I have owned 4 rentals over the years & I KNOW that Clark's aproach will work. This is NOT a book that says "anyone can buy real estate with no money down, no much how much you owe." Instead, this is a "slow-growth" approach that endorses a conservative, careful approach to real estate investing. Know what you are buying, do your homework first, etc. - and Clark shows you how to get the information you need. This is THE book to read before buying a personal home or an investment property. Because I think so much like Clark, I borrowed a copy from the library;but I strongly recommend that anyone new to real estate purchasing BUY a copy to keep. You will want it with you every step of the way, from searching for a good deal to choosing investment lenders & negotiating mortgage rates.

At first when I saw a guy throwing money on the cover of this book, I thought to myself, "Not again. Another get-rich-quick-and-borrow-a-lot book on real estate." But I was quite surprised. The author does believe in real estate as a way to get rich, but slowly not quickly. He believes that the way to do it is through good decisions over time. I also liked that he did not try to prove that real estate is better than stocks or mutual funds. He simply said that real estate is part of the investment puzzle and to do well, you need fundamental knowledge. I wish that more authors would learn this from him.

I have to warn readers that this book is mainly for beginners. If you have purchased properties before, this book may be too easy. But it has good information. For example, when buying properties, he advises buyers to check which the school district the property is in, how old the mechanicals systems (heating, air-conditioning, water heater) are, and whether the property is in a flood plain. Not many books even mention this.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

Great book with a no nonsense, no get rich quick strategy to buying and holding real estate. Clark is the master at thrift and low risk.

Quick and easy read, straight to the point.

Beware of Investment property advise though - Mr. Clark suggesting that buying a rental property where collected rent is less than PITI (Principal, Interest, Property Taxes and Insurance) is ok since you are going to increase rents each year. If you want to buy an "investment" that will eat your cash for years to come - follow this advise. Otherwise beware.