From Booklist
"Money is the driving force of any rehabilitation," says Cagann, who has more than 20 years of experience with apartment properties. He discusses in great detail what to purchase in the first place, since not every run-down building can be made profitable. The entrepreneur must calculate the economic health of the neighborhood; how the property's (presumably poor) reputation can be overcome; and how the (also presumably poor) management of the past can be rectified. Investment will depend on the shrewd evaluation of the difference between the rehabilitated property's potential rents and mortgage payments in the area; rents must be lower than mortgage payments. Cagann also discusses environmental considerations; building code citations; structural repairs (which will yield no new rent, but, if not undertaken, will ensure no rent at all); and cosmetic changes, which directly relate to rent increases. Finally, he offers a number of pointers--such as recarpeting entryways just prior to lease renewals. For the entrepreneur and real estate professional, although Cagann's intimate knowledge of how to "recycle" blighted properties--how to negotiate with bankers, city and federal officials, and the law itself--inadvertently makes his book a social commentary, too. Nicely done. John Mort
