Five Magic Paths to Making a Fortune in Real Estate [Paperback]

James E. A. Lumley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 1999

A safe, affordable investment strategy for living the life of your dreams.

Reading this book is your first step on the road to financial freedom. You?ll learn the proven real estate investment strategies that many of today?s millionaires used to make their fortunes. And the best thing is, you don?t need a lot of money or any prior property investment experience to begin generating a steady flow of cash to do with as you please??right away!

The five paths to riches real estate expert Jim Lumley describes are common approaches to property investment??fixer-uppers, lease/option, wholesale, buy-and-hold, and single- and multifamily rentals. But the real magic in this book is Lumley?s uncanny ability to teach absolutely anyone??even lifelong renters??everything they need to know about the basics of real estate investment and how to make a killing using the five strategies. You?ll quickly learn what you must know in order to:

• Find foreclosed, repossessed, or condemned properties
• Research the markets and perform valuations
• Determine what you can safely afford
• Negotiate with sellers and buyers
• Find the best financing terms, including seller-financing
• Price and perform money-making repairs
• Work with agents and contractors
• And much more

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"

A safe, affordable investment strategy for living the life of your dreams

Reading this book is your first step on the road to financial freedom. You’ll learn the proven real estate investment strategies that many of today’s millionaires used to make their fortunes. And the best thing is, you don’t need a lot of money or any prior property investment experience to begin generating a steady flow of cash to do with as you please––right away!

The five paths to riches real estate expert Jim Lumley describes are common approaches to property investment––fixer-uppers, lease/option, wholesale, buy-and-hold, and single- and multifamily rentals. But the real magic in this book is Lumley’s uncanny ability to teach absolutely anyone––even lifelong renters––everything they need to know about the basics of real estate investment and how to make a killing using the five strategies. You’ll quickly learn what you must know in order to:Find foreclosed, repossessed, or condemned propertiesResearch the markets and perform valuationsDetermine what you can safely affordNegotiate with sellers and buyersFind the best financing terms, including seller-financingPrice and perform money-making repairsWork with agents and contractorsAnd much more

About the Author

JAMES LUMLEY has more than thirty years of experience as a residential-investment consultant in real estate and as a real estate educator. He is the author of the bestselling How to Get a Mortgage in 24 Hours.

Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471297860
• ISBN-13: 978-0471297864
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,104,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

188 of 189 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very basic - too simplistic, November 26, 2000

By 

Linda Dyke (Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Magic Paths to Making a Fortune in Real Estate (Paperback)

The book covers five (5) very diverse ways to make money in the real estate market. The only problem is that four of the five catagories are treated too simplistic.

I live in the Milwaukee area and have been investing in multi-families for five years. Real estate investing is a great and quick equity builder. The tricky part is that real estate has been very robust here. A lot of these authors write as if we were still in a recession. They act as if good quality homes are being auctioned at the sheriff's office or that banks are loaded up on suburban defaults.

Every sheriff sale that I have been to in the suburbs has a price above market value.

Most of the owners that will do lease / options are selling inner city junk. Flipping houses in a hot or expensive market is a very tricky act, because you have a commitment for a high capital product. For instance, take a house at $170,000. Monthly hold cost will be high - $ 2,000 (including taxes). Wisconsin has a title transfer fee. Add in a realtor's fee and you really have to buy low. There are realtors every morning searching the MLS for ubder valued properties. I know some of them. "Get a steal" is fairly difficult.

Another truth that I discovered, if there is a really good deal, investors with cash reserves, will step in and buy. That means approaching an owner in greater MILW suburbs with an under valued property with all owner financing does not go to far.

The key to finding a good property; get to the owners before the realtors do. Do a mailing to apartment owners. Call them up. I have never been yelled at or hung up on when I called an owner and told them I was interested in buying their property. That how I brought my last two.

Last note, novices at "fixing-up" property generally under- estimate cost (and the value of their time) is fixing up houses.

In general, I thought he gave specific numbers in each example. However, I though they were unrealistic and not applicable to this market. The book is good for someone not in real estate, who wants to get in. However, readers will some intermediate real estate knowledge will be bored with the book.

131 of 148 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book contains what the $5,000 seminars have... Buy it.., April 16, 2000

By 

Matt (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Magic Paths to Making a Fortune in Real Estate (Paperback)

I'm a fulltime real estate investor and I've spent thousands on RE courses and materials. This books is the BEST I've read under $500!

It contains the High-end Techniques that the expensive courses call "SECRETS".

This is Must-Buy for anyone that wants tot get in on the $ in Real Estate Investing.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Novices, August 26, 2000

By 

Nichole Byers - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Magic Paths to Making a Fortune in Real Estate (Paperback)

I'm just starting out in Real Estate Investing, and this is the first book I've read on the topic. The book explains the 5 "paths" in a way that, as a beginner, I can still understand, yet its far from being simplistic.

I was expecting this book to be just a basic "overview" of Real Estate investing, but the author gives you a lot more inforation than just the basics.