When I recently reviewed Wall Street Journal Complete Real-Estate Investing Guidebook, I gave the book 9 stars out of 10. (Read the review here.) Filled with incredible detail, this book can serve as a guide for novice real-estate investors. If you read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and found yourself wanting more in the way of concrete information and realistic expectations, this book by the editor of the Wall Street Journal Sunday is a great choice.
I’d like to give away one free copy of this book. Since my copy has been personalized, the giveaway will be a new book shipped directly from Amazon.com. To be considered for this free copy, simply leave a comment on this post. Any stories about failed attempts at real-estate investing would be appreciated.
When you leave a comment, make sure you use a valid email address. I’ll need a way to contact the winner.
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11:06 am (reply)
I like free books…
11:09 am (reply)
I’d love to read this book. I’ve got a few investment properties. I’m more of a bottom feeder. I and my partner buy rental units with prices that are so low that the units are “free” with the land. They have been a challenge to manage as they typically require quite a bit of cash to repair upfront, but we finally have them rented and they are throwing off enough cash to pay for themselves at present.
My one word of caution as a personal injury attorney make sure you have liability coverage. Even if you are not at fault, someone getting injured on your property can be really expensive if you have a loss-only policy. I am defending a case for my partner right now on that exact situation. He’s got bi liability coverage now especially on our jointly owned properties.
11:24 am (reply)
Saving up right now to buy a house for cash roughly 7-10 years from now. This book may prove to be usefull
12:01 pm (reply)
I have a duplex now and want to expand my holdings! The first year was very rough and the tenant really worked to take advantage of me. The current tenant has been a completely different story!
I’m thinking about a partnership, combining capital for a large, multi-unit complex and use a quality PM company.
I’d love to read this book!
12:32 pm (reply)
I live in a fairly large metro area, and there is this one old town, very close to me, and it was consumed into the main city about 40 years ago. I would like to buy up all of the properties on the corner of the main “downtown” area and redevelop them. I want to tear the homes down and build new upscale, all-brick, townhomes, and then buy the building that houses the market and post office and build it to match, with some office space above them.
I think it would be awesome to fix it up, keep the old small town feel, but give it a great upgrade.
2:10 pm (reply)
Free is good!
6:51 pm (reply)
I’d LOVE to win the book because for the last 2 years, I’ve investing and studying how money works. I got involved into a REIT mutual fund late last year and have done pretty well (of course, the manager moved into natural resources and out of real estate not too long ago). But i’d like to invest in more real estate as time goes on.
7:11 pm (reply)
I am only 23 and have a lot to learn. Count me in – thanks!
7:43 pm (reply)
Well, I’m a “newbie”, took my first class a month ago, and came here, because I can use all the help I can get and then some- good blog!
8:38 pm (reply)
Sign me up. I’ve been wanting to invest in real-estate and have been looking for a good place to start learning about real-estate investing.
8:53 pm (reply)
I just graduated with my undergraduate degree and my main goal is to own a home. I live in a very high priced area and have been considering possibly investing in some real estate in a near-by area that is much, much, cheaper. Doing so, and playing landlord, would hopefully help me reach the goal of owning my primary residence much faster.
This book could help me accomplish these goals!
9:43 pm (reply)
I will participate in order to enhance the PF community….........I like free too.
10:05 pm (reply)
I purchased my first rental property in high school with my stepdad. While in the process of renovating it we had a friend move in who offered to do some of the work as a trade for free rent. He skipped town a few weeks later after stealing all the tools from the house. Then we had problems , after problems, and more problems. People constantly broke in and vandalized the place and in the while the population of our medium sized mid west town dropped by 10 percent. Well I didn’t lose hope but hope lost me. A few weeks ago some one lit her up in flames and burnt her to the ground for me. With no one living in it I couldn’t get it insured and the city wants twice the price I paid for the place to pay for them tearing it down after it burnt (I’m in a legal battle with them over this). I still love real estate though and I’m looking for my next property, but with a little more homework and education before the next step because as I have learned this takes a lot of knowledge and comes with a lot of risk.
The lesson I would give to everyone is that you have to have speed. Have everything ready to get a positive cash flow going as fast as possible before you buy (which means a lot of cash beyond what you take to close). Because if you let them sit they will sink you.
10:22 pm (reply)
Please count me in. I currently don’t have any investment property, but do own a home and have learned what not to buy, for personal residence, the hard way.
10:28 pm (reply)
Not much of an investment
But when my parents moved away from Toronto they did not sell their house, thinking it would eb a good investment. Unfortunately our tenants trashed it, so 13 years latere we sold the house at a loss (when it should’ve been a gain by market parices).
11:49 pm (reply)
Real estate investing has always been an interest of mine. Getting a free book about it is even better. :)
5:18 am (reply)
I currently have one investment property, which is managed by a professional company. However, I would like to learn about doing this on my own if the increase in profits is worth it. Having read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I too found that there isn’t any concrete information to get you started. This book would be a great way to get started!
8:57 am (reply)
Book looks interesting, I put it in my Amazon wishlist.. but free it way better.
10:07 am (reply)
::waves hand:: Send me the book and you will prosper.
12:26 pm (reply)
Pick me … pick me! I don’t yet own any RE property but this will likely change in the next year or two.
2:57 pm (reply)
I’m on year three of a one-year fixer-upper project, does that count as a failure? I’m living in it so it’s not that bad financially.
3:28 pm (reply)
I’m 33, make 100K+ a year, have no debt and can’t afford a house. You may have guessed I live in LA but either way, I need to learn more about real estate.
I really enjoyed your review and would love to learn more about this stuff.
3:59 pm (reply)
Please count me in!!!
4:06 pm (reply)
I’m actually saving for my first investment property in a college town. I’m planning on buying a 2 bed 2 bath condo and would love some help!
7:06 pm (reply)
Count me in. My wife and I are saving up for an intended real estate investment in the next year.
6:37 pm (reply)
This sounds like a pretty good book. i’ve been hitting my local library all summer grabbing books on real estate investing and home purchasing. I live in a very high cost area, but have roots in another state that has much lower costs. My goal is to buy a property there, rent it out, having tenants pay my loan. All this subprime mortgage fallout and liar loans are making my purchase more difficult.
12:01 am (reply)
Hmmm…failed attempts at real estate investing…I got one. I spent over $5000 buying a “No Down Payment” course and coaching over a year ago and have not bought a single property. I think I really need the Wall Street Journal Complete Real-Estate Investing Guidebook.
Thanks!
3:56 am (reply)
I haven’t had any failed attempts at real estate investing, yet.
I almost decided to liquidate my savings a year ago to invest in real estate after listening to one seminar and getting hooked at the spreadsheets and how easy it looked. I’m glad I didn’t because it involves a lot more work but something I’m interested in exploring.
10:12 pm (reply)
Having read lots of books and purchased many real estate seminars from Allen, Cook, Rich Dad, Whitney, Sheats, and the likes I was pumped up about real estate investing. One thing they don’t tell you are stories of failed attempts, which people can learn a lot from. Hopefully someone can benefit from my story. I believe we learn more from our failures than we do our successes. The path to success is thru failure often times. I took the plunge, purchased properties and became a landlord. 7 years later I had 3 duplexes, 3 single family homes, and my primary residence. The only problem, I financed it all on credit cards. Big problem. The properties were old, in need of constant repair, and the tenants were transient, so I always had too many vacancies. Big problem. I could not keep tenants. Bad part of town. Negative cashflow caused by constant repairs and vacancies were the reason I could not continue to make the payments on high interest credit cards. Management of it all was a nightmare. I am a programmer by trade, so I had an 8-5 job at the same time. At one point my company downsized and I was let go, so all I had were these loser properties and they were driving me nuts losing money. I could no longer make the payments because I also financed many or the repairs on credit cards. I went bankrupt and lost it all. That was 15 years ago and I have recovered. I have repaired my credit and it is good now. I built a new home (5 years ago) and would try it again. This time with better, newer properties less in need of repair, better financing, and with the services of a professional property manager. I would do things much differently this time, but still have much to learn. Anything your good book could show me that could help would be appreciated. Thanks.
12:09 am (reply)
i hope i learn from this book…
8:13 am (reply)
9:22 am (reply)
Thanks for the neat opportunity! I am interested in a free copy of the book to give as a gift to a coworker who has expressed interest in making money from real estate. :)
10:09 am (reply)
Free. Free is good.
10:23 am (reply)
Still worries me that it is written by a guy with the last name of Crook, but count me in!
11:36 am (reply)
I have yet to learn about real estate investing. This book would be great to start out with.
12:18 pm (reply)
I’m feeling lucky…
5:49 pm (reply)
Currently saving money while deployed to Iraq. Thinking that buying a house would be a great investment. Just don’t know where to start.
8:55 pm (reply)
Sounds great, count me in.
2:12 am (reply)
Buying property in NYC can be so frustrating. Real estate brokers pull a lot of bait and switch tactics when advertising and showing properties. Then some delay in providing the disclosure agreement. I need this book because I am looking to purchase property within the next two months. I have seen so many dishonest practices that it is time for me to learn the procedure and not put up with their unhanded tactics.
12:22 pm (reply)
Been very interested in real estate investing for a while, but afraid to pull the trigger. Sign me up.
7:11 pm (reply)
My wife and I are proud owners of a mortgage and currently have no investment properties. :)
10:59 am (reply)
Count me in
4:40 pm (reply)
Free is one of my two favorite words…
7:07 pm (reply)
It’s definitely time for me to diversify my investments…
9:56 pm (reply)
I would love to read this book. I am 28 and just made the decision about 3 months ago that I wanted to not only buy a house but also get into realestate. I’m sure its all “HGTV”’s fault. Watching their programs has showed me how fun and “grown up” it is to own your own place.
So again, I would love to have this book.
thanks and good luck to all.
10:55 pm (reply)
Count me in!
2:00 am (reply)
Thanks to everyone who participated. The contest is now closed and I’ll announce the winner shortly.