Skip to main content

Real Estate Investing - Books,TV Infomercials, and Seminars

Real estate investing has become popularized today because of real estate investing TV infomercials and traveling seminar circuits. But real estate investing has not always been so popular.

In the 1960s, William Nickerson wrote, "How I Turned $1000 into Three Million in Real Estate" and "How to Make a Fortune Today Starting from Scratch." It was one of the first real estate investing books to get national attention.

A little later, Al Lowry authored "How You Can Become Financially Independent by Investing in Real Estate." Al Lowry might be called "the father of the modern-day real estate seminars," because he was the first to hold seminars as a result of his book sales.

But it was Mark Haroldsen who carried the real estate investing book/seminar thrust to the next level. Haroldsen wrote, "How to Wake Up the Financial Genius Inside You." If you were tuned in to real estate investing at that time, you remember the newspaper and magazine advertising showing a picture of suave and bald-headed Mark leaning against the front hood of his Mercedes.

The picture appeared everywhere in full page ads of major publications. And as Mark began selling his books, he began holding real estate investing seminars. I have had lunch with Mark and Al Lowry as they swapped stories of the advertising blitzes that vaulted them into national prominence for their real estate investing prowess. Mark later wrote "The Courage To Be Rich" and "Tax Free."

But it was Robert Allen who capitalized on the previous groundwork by Lowry and Haroldsen. Robert Allen was reportedly paid $1 million advance royalties for his best-selling book, "Nothing Down," a compilation of 50 techniques for buying property with no money.

Robert had learned these techniques from several years experience with a commercial real estate firm. He later wrote "Creating Wealth" and "Getting Started in Real Estate Investing." The Robert Allen Real Estate Investing Seminars became a phenomenal marketing bonanza. Conventions were held in the major cities across the country, like Orlando, LA, Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta.

The authors of various real estate investing techniques spoke at these seminars, but their spiel focused on selling packages of real estate investing materials that they offered for sale. Millions of dollars of real estate investing materials were sold at these 3 day conventions.

The convention frenzy ushered in what has since become known as "The Nothing Down Real Estate Movement" of the early to mid-1980s.

I keep all of these books in my personal library, and you can probably still find them in your public library and book stores. There's a lot of great information in these books that can make you very knowledgeable, even though some of the ideas are out-dated.

We are now presented a variety of ways for making money in real estate investing in TV infomercials, books and seminars. Which is best? Who can say? Real estate investing is learned through trial and error. Real estate investing skills and techniques are acquired by practice.

I don't think anyone can dogmatically recommend a technique best for another person. Every real estate investor has unique needs and is in a unique situation. Objectives of real estate investing differs.

However, if you are limited with real estate investing educational dollars and need to generate quick return on investment, I think fixing up cheap houses is an ideal beginning point. Real estate investing in makeover properties generates quick, profitable dollars with low risk.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Studying the Effects of MDIA

There was a first law enacted in July 2008 before the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act or MDIA was created. The MDIA was a spin off of the first law and it came into effect on July 30, 2009. The Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act was supposed to take effect not in July 2009 but in October 2009. The early implementation of the said law by the federal government came as a surprise to all professionals such as real estate agents, brokers, banks, lending institutions and borrowers as well. The dictates the closing time span with regards to the home loan. Before this act was implemented, the normal process of applying for a loan starts out when the commercial bank or other lending firms gives out a good faith estimate or a truth in lending to the borrower. This process is done after the borrower has filled up the standard application form. The good faith estimate only takes about three working days to be sent out by the bank to the borrower. The new law, MDIA, on the other hand, cancels...

best way to choosing a building contracter

Whether you are a business or an individual who needs some work done on your house or a building, you will need to know how to go about choosing a contractor who won't let you down. When there are so many different companies to choose from, you will need to know how to separate out the ones who leave the job without finishing everything and stick you with a bill that is much too high for the quality of work done. This article will give you some of the best tips on how to make sure the contractor you hire is the right one for your project, no matter what it is. To avoid choosing a contractor that you will later see in court over some dispute, one of the first things you must do is to keep your options open and look through a list of at least three contractors with a good solid reputation for getting the job done every time. You will want to make certain that these contractors on your list have a spotless record, so you know that whatever work they do for you, it will turn out just t...

niru realestate Mortgage Brokers

• Know the service costs: When you are consulting a broker, it is essential to know the amount that he will charge as fees. There might some hidden charges that you are not aware of. So make sure that you discuss all the details with him before you conduct a transaction. • Read the documents carefully: After consulting a broker you have to sign a contract. Make sure that you read the contract carefully. Sometimes there are a lot of clauses that are included as fine prints. You should know exactly what you are getting into. Never rely on any verbal commitment; it is always important to sign the written documents as they are the proof of the agreement between you and the consultant. Know and understand all the important details of the loan package which the broker is going to give you. Don't sign blindly without being in possession of all the facts. • Know about the right type of loan: Mortgage brokers get their payment via commissions. Make sure that you are going to choose a loa...