Real Estate Investing 101

Earnest Kelley
American Literary Press (2007)
ISBN 9781561679539
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (4/07)

As somebody who had been dabbling in real estate for some years now, I became quite intrigued when I picked up Earnest Kelley’s “Real Estate Investing 101.” I wondered if I would agree with what he had to say and even more, if I would learn anything new and useful from it.

All that I have to say after reading it is that I wish I would have found it before I decided to buy the first investment piece of real estate. This book is absolutely brimming with useful advice and great insight. It is clear that Mr. Kelley has dealt with real estate extensively in several different roles. He was a real estate broker, mortgage broker and a manager of his own properties, so it is not surprising that he is familiar with all the aspects of real estate investing. His book guides the potential investor through all of the stages of such a real estate deal, from deciding whether such a path would be a good fit to dealing with the proper choice of a piece of real estate and then to the acquisition of it. Mr. Kelley goes into details of finding sellers, negotiating, funding, act of sale with all the intricate and sometimes complicated parts of it, finding – and screening – tenants etc.

The chapters that I found particularly valuable and insightful were the ones dealing with rental income, the usual dilemma of rent versus sell and property management.  Another chapter that offers some very interesting insight and valuable ideas is “A Map for Your Retirement Future.” It provides invaluable advice on setting the appropriate tasks to plan and accomplish in different phases of your life and a guide on how to get that done. This chapter contains no-nonsense and very doable tasks, all of them seen through Mr. Kelley’s positive, can-do approach to life.

At the very end of the book one can find a number of extremely useful checklists, notices, agreements, deeds and other useful forms; as well as an extensive glossary of terms. Both of those sections will make any of the planned real estate moves much simpler for any future investor.

I found Mr. Kelley’s book informative, comprehensive and very easy to read. “Real Estate Investing 101” is a must-have for any real estate investor who would like to avoid some very costly common mistakes and just generally make the process of acquiring real estate property easier and more rewarding.

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