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

~ Thomas Lucier (Author) "First off, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for investing your hard-earned money in a copy of The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor's Kit..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Chosen as one of Robert J. Bruss' 10 best real estate books of 2005! "This ultra-complete book reveals virtually everything necessary to profitably acquire foreclosure distress properties without making costly mistakes."-Robert J. Bruss, nationally syndicated real estate columnist

Product Description

Pre-foreclosure real estate is one of the hottest investment opportunities on the market. The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investors Kit offers step-by-step instruction and no-nonsense advice on how to find great deals, estimate fair market value, negotiate with sellers, sell your property on your own, and win big in real estate. Youll learn how to get the best deals on foreclosure properties before they go to auction and utilize simple ready-made worksheets, checklists, forms, and agreements that make getting started easy. Even people of modest means can get into pre-foreclosure investing—all it takes is a little hard work, persistence, and the tools youll find in this handy guide.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471692794
• ISBN-13: 978-0471692799
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (210 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,719 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

160 of 175 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars a let down, May 4, 2007

By	Anthony Orapallo "aorapal" (Phila., PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having read the other reviews, I bought this book with high expectations. I was very disappointed. The book lacks details and contains too much cursory, trivial and anecdotal information. For example, the author explains that public records are listed in alphabetical, he gives great examples of which mobile office equipment to buy and describes over and over how wonderful the internet is but glosses over important details like actual examples of what exactly you find in the public records and examples of how to determine if a deal is worthwhile or not. He talks about due diligence and that one should research the public records to get information from 50 different places. He even goes on to tell a story about a women who didn't do enough research and ended up with a $19,000 tax lien attached to her pre-foreclosure property. Again though, he never shows any examples or those records or HOW to use those records to determine if a deal is worthy or not. His step-by-step process is not detailed enough to put into practice without doing tons more research. The book seems unfocused and often times wanders away from the point. Overall not a very practical book but probably a pretty good buy if you know nothing about foreclosures, pre-foreclosures or home buying in general.

68 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wealth of information, September 13, 2006

By	gregory dwyer (houston, tx) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Foreclosure investing is all the rage nowadays, but Thomas Lucier tells you why you must get in during the PRE-FORECLOSURE phase to really make the big bucks. There's just too much competition for properties once they reach foreclosure.

The author suggests that you get to the properties before they reach foreclosure by doing your homework and locating the properties early. A letter writing campaign is his preferred method of contacting the foreclosees (is that a word???) and will follow up with subsequent letters should he not hear back from the homeowner.

In addition to step by step instructions for locating properties and acquiring them, Lucier gives a treasure trove of information which you can use along the way to help make your job easier. He includes literally hundreds of websites and even provides his email address to provide help to those who need it.

The book covers all the bases, however, it didn't leave me motivated. The author mentions all of the pitfalls and hard work required in this business and clearly doesn't try to mislead the reader into thinking it will be easy money. I appreciate the honesty, but must admit I won't be pursuing pre-foreclosures at this time. However, I haven't ruled it out for the future, and should I choose to do so, the book will serve as a great instructional manual in my quest.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't listen to the naysayers, May 12, 2007

By	Matt Parker (Midwest) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Someone from another country once said, this book is no good for another country and gave it low ratings... Well, duh! U.S. law only applies to U.S. stuff. This book is by far one of the best guides on pre-foreclosures and should be considered as the beginner's guide for bank foreclosures. Also, when the title says 'distressed' real estate, it's not talking about bad properties but rather properties with their mortgages no longer being paid.

The difference is important because distressed properties suggest run down stuff. When actually, a lot of preforeclosures are great houses and for one reason or another the owner no longer chose to pay for it.

Overall a good guide. Also on another note, I only buy books BY investors not marketing gurus or writers. Lucier is a REAL investor, with personal experience. Those are the type of authors you want to read from. Here are other books by REAL investors:

Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens: Earn Safe, Secured, and Fixed Returns Every Time by Loftis

Complete Guide to Real Estate Tax Liens and Foreclosure Deeds: Learn in 7 Days-Investing Without Losing Series by Sausa

FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit by Villani