Customer Reviews

The Complete Guide to Investing in REITS -- Real Estate Investment Trusts: How to Earn High Rates of Returns Safely

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book the other day (in 2011) and just finished reading it. I purchased the book in part based on its title, and its positive reviews.

I am writing this review to give what I think is some needed "balance" to what I think is a misleading title and to give some balance to some overly favorable and superficial reviews.

The title of this book is The COMPLETE Guide to Investing in Reits: How to Earn High Rates of Return Safely. I think that is misleading for two reasons.

A more accurate title would be A Newspaper Reporter's General Guide to REITS, a basic and beginning primer. This would be a far more accurate description. This book is nowhere near being a "complete" guide to REIT investing. Rather it is a somewhat well-written and well-organized guide to learning about REITS in very general, basic and elementary terms. It is merely a guide for a relative novice to BEGIN learning about REITS if the reader is just starting their REIT investment research.

The book is by no means complete, or exhaustive, or highly sophisticated. It is merely a beginner's primer. If viewed in this far more modest regard it does an OK job.

Second, it is by no means a guide on "how to earn high rates of return safely." In fact, I don't believe that it even much tries to give the reader any stucture or theory on how "high returns might be accomplished safely."

So if this second aspect of the book's title is what you are after, then you are likely to be disappointed.

Please note that the book indicates that the book's author, Mark Gordon, was a newspaper reporter for seven years on some local newspapers before writing this book (his first). He currently is the managing editor of the Gulf Coast Business Review (which covers business affairs on the Gulf Coast of Florida). There is nothing wrong with any of that, but be aware that the author does not reveal any actual investment background or education that gives him any "leg up" in opining about REITS. In other words he was more or less just an intelligent layman giving some general coverage about this subject. And time and time again the source of his basic information on REITS mostly comes from the REIT industry trade association, which general is in the business of producing industry "puff pieces" for PR purposes.

There are times when a reader might be convinced that this book might have even been sponsored by this trade association.

And although the book has a copyright of 2008,it pretty much does not discuss the fact that REITS took a huge hit in share prices in the 2007-2008 meltdown (with some losing up to 75% of their share price).

Thus this is an OK book for a beginning investor, who just wanted to begin learning about REITS. But is is not complete and does not provide a guide for safely making money in REITS. That you will have to learn somewhere else.

So, as you can tell, I did learn from this book. But I receive far less than what the book promised in its title and far less than the Four and Five Star reviews seems to suggest I might receive.

Despite a reader's possible lack of trust in the real estate market these days, I think that reading Mark Gordon's The Complete Guide to Investing in REITS: How to Earn High Rates of Return Safely is definitely worthwhile for the small investor who wants to own a share of commercial and large-scale residential real estate. Gordon has the knack for taking difficult real estate concepts and making them easy to understand--I learned a lot. According to the book, REIT's, which act like a combination of stocks and bonds, are surprisingly predictable and profitable. The author does a good job of explaining the ins and outs of REITS--key terms (including a terrific glossary), history, myths, volatile sectors, global and healthcare REITS, and calculating the value of a REIT. I also appreciated the several wonderful short case studies, which helped me better understand key concepts.

The book is recent to 2007/beginning of 2008; hence, one glaring drawback of REITS is that it doesn't cover the current mortgage crisis and how it has affected REITS, especially mortgage REITS. Still, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good introduction to REIT investments.

This book is very thorough covering the various types of REITs, giving the pros and cons of each type, as well as different vehicles that can be used to invest in REITs as well as methods to analyze REITs. Several REIT's are reviewed. It's current in discussing the effects of the drop in the 2008 real estate market on the REIT industry which affected mortgage REITs more than other types of REITs. The author explains key terms and abbreviations used in the industry but failed to put some of those abbreviations in the glossary.

Regardless of who you are, if you're stuck within the not so thick mud known as "middle class" you know how easy it is for you to sink through. And none is there a better branch to grab or avoid than that of "investment". Makes the fake leather covering your wallet sweat, doesn't it? Fear is a primal instinct after all, especially when it comes to protecting something that's dear to you; your money. The Complete Guide to Investing in REITs hopes to shed some light on how investing in real estate(a pretty scare topic) can be not as dangerous as anticipated if you use the proper investing tool.

Is this book THE way to drag yourself from the pits? Not at all, and at times, it seems a little tacked on and sales pitchy, but despite those rare moments the author seems to have a noble cause. As an informative book, it does everything right, such as: giving you back story, breaking down the categories of REITs, giving you helpful statistics and a plethora of other knowledge. Mark Gordon is a very competent author and consistently makes clear points without too much useless dribble. For the commoner trying to wade his way into real estate investment, I'd definitely recommend this book as a prerequisite. 4 stars.

The Complete Guide to REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) by Mark Gordan is a book aimed at someone with at least foundational knowledge of Real Estate Investment Trust. The writing, especially the dependence on investment terminology, would deter a novice investor and potentially lead to more confusion. However, for someone with a little working knowledge of investment, the author does a very frank and effective job of measuring risks, rewards, and options in the REIT market.

Mr. Gordon does not make pie-in-the-sky promises. He reviews the ups and downs of REITs historically, provides case studies, and offers potential investors measures by which to consider which REIT is best considering individual portfolio goals. I would have liked to see his quotes/sources footnoted for those wishing to do more research, however. Overall Score: 4 stars.

Since 1960 individual investors have pooled their money together to purchase REITs (real estate investment trusts); a stable investment tool that combines the risk of real-estate ownership and the tidiness of trusts. In the United States there are three types of REITs, equity, mortgage, and hybrid and unlike other investments the company must return at least 90% of its annual taxable income to shareholders through dividends. Often this return competes with, and can even outperform stocks, mutual funds, and bonds.
Many in the investment community view the inherent risk involved in REITs as significantly less than many other investments and the returns are predictable over both the long and the short term. And the buy-and-hold strategy tends to work well with a blue-chip portfolio of REITs.
This book's goal is to help the REIT investor outperform the market by teaching the principles unique to this type of investment. There are detailed explanations concerning what to do before entering this market. While there are risks in any investment a majority of the industry's observers agree that REITs, both as a sector and as individual companies, will grown significantly over the next ten years.
An encyclopedic glossary is included to help those interested in investing in REITs. This is an excellent book.

I found this book to be highly enlightening and very informational on the specific niche of Real Estate Trusts. I loved how the author included the history of Real Estate Investor Trusts so that the reader could see more than simply the here and now on the subject. The author had a wonderful tone of voice that would captivate not just the avid real estate followers but the novice followers as well.

I felt the author thoroughly broke down the topic and made it enjoyable and easy to follow for anyone no matter what their previous experience was. I was touched that a portion of the proceeds of this book in honor of "Bear" (their family pet) go to the United States Humane Society. I highly recommend this 288 page book to not just seasoned real estate investors but to anyone who even remotely is considering dabbling in the real estate investing venture.

I particularly liked this book because a lot of it is broken down into bullets, which are easy to understand and explain different terms or important points throughout. The Complete Guide to Investing in REITs gives many examples of different types of REITs, such as retail, industrial and residential. Chapters 6-13 explain in detail the different kinds of REITs and follow up with case studies. The studies presented in the book really make it more interesting than a book that simply lays out the basic information. This really does an excellent job of driving important points home.

For a single person looking to break into the REIT industry, chapter 15 is very helpful in explaining exactly how to begin. The following chapters will answer any questions that may arise about losing money, potential risks and trends.

This is a very comprehensive book about REITs. Different REIT types include office, residential, retail, industrial, health care, self-storage, and motels/hotels. Some of you may also find the history of REITs interesting because it makes you understand how this financial product evolved to where it is today.

Even though REITs are publicly traded companies, they differ from other stocks in such way as the distribution of earnings in dividends and taxation issues. They are also valued differently, and I found the chapter on REIT valuation interesting. Some investors might think that to calculate the value of a REIT, they must rely on earnings per share. The author illustrates that this is not the case. There are various methods to establish values for REITs by using FFO (funds from operations), net asset value, and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization).

- 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

Real Estate Investment Trusts come in all shapes and sizes. There are more then 200 REITs in the US with more then $450 billion in assets. Three main types of trusts include Equity REITs which can include assets from apartments, office buildings and malls to local zoos; mortgage REITs which act as holding companies for mortgage portfolios and a hybrid REIT which combines the other two types of investments.

The Complete Guide to REITs also provides a detailed analysis of the risk and rewards associated with investments and explanations of confusing investment terminology. Chapters 4 & 5 include a detailed history of REITs in the United States and provide the reader with an accurate description of the life cycle of investments.