The Complete Guide to Investing in Rental Properties Paperback – Illustrated, May 7, 2004

I have read all of the real estate investing books by Steve Berges, in addition to many others by other authors. I have found that Mr. Berges is by far the best author on real estate investment, period. If you haven't read "The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings," then you are doing it wrong.Mr. Berges' basic approach is to teach you what to look for, and how to analyze property before you buy it. With this approach you will know how much money you will make in the end, before you have even made the down payment. Berges explains this approach very thoroughly and effectively, with an informal, anecdotal style that makes you feel like you are discussing real estate methods with your rich uncle."The Complete Guide to Investing in Rental Properties" is Berges' newest book. Having read all of his previous books, I found this one to be a little redundant. The first half of the book is a review of infomation found in more detail in his other books, and even includes excerpts from his other work. But that allows the book to stand on its own. The rest of the book is all new, and pure gold. Mr. Berges discusses his techniques for managing property and tenants, increasing property value and reducing expenses.If you were only allowed to read one book on real estate investing, "The Complete Guide to Investing in Rental Properties" would be it. However, then you would be missing out on all of Steve Berges' other books. On the other hand, were you to have read the others, in my opinion you would not only have all the information needed to begin a successful real estate venture, you would also have a significant advantage over all those investors out there who have not read his work.Given that this has been such a raving review, I feel I should head off assumptions that I work for Steve Berges, or the publisher, or even know him. I do not. I have only read many books on real estate investing, and I have come to recognize Mr. Berges' books to be the champions of them all. You just have to read one to know what I am talking about.****UPDATE! November 2008****Ten Stars! This is an update to my original review of this book on February 11, 2005. Since then, this book seems to have taken a beating from other reviewers, so I feel compelled to chime in. If you are looking for Shakespearean writing, check the classic literature section. Is basic arithmetic part of your dismissive notion of "math" that you asked your 7th grade algebra teacher why you needed to learn it, since you were never going to use it anyway? If so, then you should avoid this book, and investing in general. If, however, you are interested in smart real estate investment then this is the place.Using what I learned from this and Steve Berges' other book, "The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings," I have recently acquired over $1 million worth of apartment buildings (heavily mortgaged, of course). Both books showed me exactly how to find the best deals in town. Early in 2008 I cashed in all my mutual funds and IRAs, paid the early withdrawal penalties, and passed up on the company's 401K program so I could put all that money into purchasing apartments. My co-workers were certain that I was an absolute idiot back then, but now I look like a genius. Currently my apartments are professionally managed so they run themselves, and they also generate a 9.5% annual rate of return after all expenses. That is not much, but the real profit will come when I sell them in a few years. Also, 9.5% is significantly above the negative 50% return that the average mutual fund investor is seeing these days.If you are reading this and looking to make money in real estate, then you have already figured out the most important step. Four years ago I knew nothing about real estate, having never even purchased a home. I turned to Amazon.com and read hundreds of reviews for real estate books. This powerful tool enabled me to weed out the 98% of real estate investment books that are completely worthless. I eventually bought and read about 24 of them, including all of the books written by Mr. Berges. Since I was new to the business, the rest of the books were on related subjects that I knew I needed to understand before getting started: mortgages, home inspection, HVAC, lawyers, insurance, what a closing is, etc. If there is something in real estate that is a mystery to you, just read a good book about it. The people who waste thousands of dollars on a weekend real estate seminar only learn a fraction of what you can learn yourself from a $20 book. In fact, all my real estate agents, building inspectors and loan officers have been blown away by how astute my understanding and insight has been, even before they know how new I am to investing.I never read the non-investment related chapters at the end of Steve Berges' books. I am also familiar enough with Microsoft Excel that I make my own spreadsheets for analysis of properties, so I have never bothered with the software that he sells. There are books about using Excel, too. There may be investment books out there that are better than those by Steve Berges, but I have not found any yet.

Great book for beginner rental investor. It covers all areas that is important without going into expert detail.This is for investor with less than 5 years of rental properties experience. Though if you have more than 5 years of experience, this book is great source of references and refresher.

Great and easy to read introduction to the world of real estate investing. Very practical to absorb even for the beginner in this field. Also filled with good explanations on financing.

Very insightful book. Mostly filled with stuff I already knew. But its a great book for the beginner who doesnt want to make mistakes

Bought this book as I began my rental property search. Found it to be really informative about things to do and things to avoid. Great for a beginning real estate investor.

Thank You

As a professional and licensed real estate broker specializing in property management, I'm only going to address the parts of the book dealing with managing the rental property. His advice omits requirements of American with Disabilities Act (ADA), HUD, and state requirements for rental properties. Some of the advice given will get the property owner sued by the tenant and possibly a government agency. He does not recognize that many states have landlord-tenant laws that govern private owners as well as professional management companies actions when dealing with tenants, entry into occupied properties, trust accounts, what repairs can be done by owners (some repairs require special licenses when a property is tenant occupied, owner occupied and tenant occupied properties are governed by different laws) and elements of a lease. He never reveals that private owners are subject to the requirements of HUD, an agency which is very serious about going after landlords who violate their policies. His information on obtaining tenants is severely outdated. Newspapers are the most expensive and least productive method of obtaining tenants.

good info but nothing to write home about. this is not a book for people who want and story. very factual.