Download Maverick Real Estate Investing: The Art of Buying and Selling Properties Like Trump, Zell, Simon, and the World's Greatest Land Owners eBook

This is a useful and interesting book for real estate investors. The reader will gain insight about investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT's) as well as some practical analysis of how the big players put their deals together. Although the information is not presented as a step by step "how to manual", the information can easily be translated into direct investment strategies for the small investor. The author's emphasis on real estate cycles, focus (on property type), leverage and strategy are important and useful concepts for all real estate investors. Overall, a good read for those interested in real property as an investment.

Good review of real estate basics. A tour through types and strategies. Good starting point for a young professional or someone interested in the field. Information sometimes applicable to US market, but still interesting and worthwhile.

Good book to learn a little about some of the most notable real estate gurus.

Quiet basic information. If your an advanced Realestate investor looking to scale up this isn't for you. If your just starting out its probably pretty relevant

This is a fun and illustrative book on the very generals of Real Estate Investing. It mentions players and their top business deals, but lacks the depth one would normally look in a business specialty book. There is another tome in this series, called Maverick Real Estate Financing, which explains in more detail the types of financing and the process of obtaining them. I believe that is a better overall book than this, although not as fun to read.

Author Steve Bergsman does a good job here of introducing the various players on the big property, and even bigger money scene in his first book, MAVERICK REAL ESTATE INVESTING.

For those who have not intimately studied the business affairs and strategies of Trump, Lowy, Shorenstein, Hines, Zell, Simon, et. al., this is as good a 'round-the-horn effort as it gets in getting to know each of them just a wee bit better.

My opinion? If you're anything like me, you'll blow through these chapters like a whirlwind, grabbing a nugget or two here or there. Its content will--at the end of the day--stick firmly in your mind, and you'll eventually find yourself thinking of it at the seemingly oddest times.

Better. If anything, reading MAVERICK REAL ESTATE INVESTING will doubtless instigate further curiosity, and for at least certain of the source materials Bergsman suggests in his rather meticulous follow-up notes.

If you read through from cover to cover, you'll realize there's a fair bit of continuity you can come to expect from Bergsman's style. He tends to reiterate the salient themes and terms for clarity and familiarity, though the paucity of background information--for instance, HOW did Paul Reichmann acquire that property in question?, or WHY did Fred Lowy decide to purchase that shopping mall in Connecticut?--will send you scampering back to the public library or to the megabookstore in search of a proper biography (should one exist) on that very subject.

I found myself in this particular state of thinking on at least a few times during my readthrough.

In Mr. Bergsman's defence, I suppose he was somewhat limited by what his subjects under the microscope permitted him to publish here in these short--but sweet--chapters. To be sure, I'm positive he had his hands tied when discussing the specifics of certain deals, therefore the details are a bit sketchy. As readers, we're more than a little understanding. We deftly between the lines...

I suppose in the case of books like these, you won't find everything to your liking.

Sure, novices to the real estate/property trade might enjoy the rather simplified breakdown of various terminologies and techniques--universtity course "101"-style--but will probably gain a massive amount of inspiration as a result. Others more well-versed in these areas will perhaps gravitate more towards those bite-sized quotables straight from the mouths of powerful magnates like Trump. Still others may cherry pick a few sage pointers from Bergsman's handy "summary points" ending each chapter, what you'd find in most MBA-level textbooks. It's a good review of what you've just learned. It's even a nice "skimming device" for those with less time to devote to full-on coverage. Derive insights from a particular chapter or two, then discard the rest. Who's to say?

Read it and see how it strikes you. I guarantee you won't gain all the inspirations the book's juicy title seems to suggest, but you *will* use it as a departure point.

Perhaps nothing more convincing than raw experience actually matters in the final analysis. You've got to spend the time making mistakes, going through the motions, and figuring out the optimal approaches for getting things done in your area of expertise.

Like any other industry segment, spend at least ten years practicing it until you REALLY know the ins and outs of how it functions. The book teaches more than anything that there's no better teacher than the school of hard knocks.

He who knows how to box--not fight--is the ultimate winner in the end.

All in all, a four star read. It's a title worth having on your bookshelf. Once you become successful, you'll look back fondly upon it for what it gave you, a long time ago.

--ADM in Prague

This book doesn't get heavy in the real details of exactly how these deals are done. It's a little broad, but I will say that it helps any investor see how multi million dollar office building deals are made accross the country. It will outline what these tycoons and most are billionaires do in different cycles of the markets..... bottom line they buy in distress cheaply, improve net operating incomes and position these properties to generate millions of dollars in profits....... It's good info for knowing how to handle down markets, how much of an equity position to sustain, and also what it takes to put deals together with syndications..... If you want to get big in commercial real estate its worth the money and time to read it..... if you want to flip or hold a small portfolio of single family homes or apartment complexes don't waste your time with this book read the many others that are published for the smaller investor. Blake-------- [email protected]

... It is very unclear as to who Bergman was writing for: a) Real Estate Investors doing deals for their own portfolios and looking for strategies they can put to use, or ; b) MBA's studying real estate, hoping eventually to work for a major firm and simply wanting to reaffirm that they have selected the "correct" industry. In either case, this book misses the mark.

What is particularly troubling is that the author quotes from many other books (which he does footnote) but does so in a style to to make it appear that he actually interviewed the people he highlights within the book, but it is quickly apparant that all he did was read someone else's material, as the stories fall flat for lack of relevant detail.

To his credit the author prefaces the book by stating that he has never participated in a successful real estate investment - had he done so the book would have more relevance, as he would have had keener insight as to what investor's want to know, rather than passing along old folklore and tired stories.

If you want to be an investor - this is a waste of good "investory library" funds;
If you simply want to know more about the commercial real estate industry, there are many other books out there which do a better job.