The Peebles Path to Real Estate Wealth

You can still find plenty of good deals in a failing real estate market by applying the advice in The Peebles Path to Real Estate Wealth: How to Make Money in Any Market. Multimillionaire teal estate mogul R. Donahue Peebles makes it possible for you to always win in real estate, provided you have the right knowledge and exercise good judgment in the deals you make. Start with small investments and work up to bigger, more profitable properties; before you know it, you’ll be a smart investor earning large profits!

Introduction: The Opportunity of Setbacks (Why I Wrote This Book) ix

Part One A Recent History of the Real Estate Roller Coaster 1

Chapter 1 The Big Bang: The Post-2000 Real Estate Explosion 3

Between 2000 and 2006, mortgage interest rates in the United States fell in half. That started a feeding frenzy, which sent housing prices to dizzying heights.

Chapter 2 The Great Flood: The Oversupply of Housing 17

Combined with the growing thirst for inventory, spiraling prices encouraged developers to build more projects. And guess what? Blind to the downturn, they built way too much.

Chapter 3 Down Time: The New Buyer’s Market 33

Because of the credit crunch and the oversupply, we are now on the down slope of the housing bubble, with prices dropping across the country. That means opportunities are everywhere.

Part Two Fundamental Tools for Real Estate Investing 45

Chapter 4 Information Please: Where to Find The Data 47

The good news about real estate investing is that anyone can do it. Having said that, you need to do your homework to make a superior investment.

Chapter 5 Adding It Up: A Crash Course in Valuation 57

Figuring out the value of a piece of property—what it’s really worth—is both an analytic and creative process. It is also fundamental to making a good investment.

Chapter 6 The Big Guns: Finding Help from the Government 71

If you want to buy property, or protect property that is now threatened by skyrocketing mortgage payments, don’t discount the power of government programs.

Chapter 7 Money Talks: Negotiating with the Lender 81

The average person who goes to a bank for a mortgage figures it’s not negotiable. Wrong. Here are a few helpful insights to help you negotiate with the man behind the curtain.

Part Three CREATING WEALTH IN THE NEW LANDSCAPE 89

Chapter 8 Boom to Bust: Making Money in Down Times 91

To understand the current situation you have to look back at historic real estate cycles, in particular to the real estate crisis of the early 1990s.

Chapter 9 Fundamental Values: Buying in the Right Regions, Cities, and Neighborhoods 107

A big aspect of the current real estate crisis is that it’s indiscriminant. It’s hurting every market in the country, even places with solid fundamentals. And that’s where to buy.

Chapter 10 Specific Observations: Making the Deals 119

Once you understand current values—where to buy and when to buy—you still have to make that perfect deal. So size up your seller.

Chapter 11 Techniques, Tactics, and Tricks: Useful Tools to Make Money 133

Understanding real estate principles is vital, but it also helps to know a few things about auctions, foreclosures, bank-owned properties, and contracts for preconstruction sales. In other words, how can you best leverage cash and credit, or just one of the two?

Chapter 12 Outside the Residential Box: Investing in Commercial Real Estate 157

The opportunities in real estate go beyond the residential marketplace; should you consider investing in commercial properties?

Part Four Saving Your Bacon 173
(How to Avoid Getting Swept Under by the Subprime Tide)

Chapter 13 Be Like the Rich: Change Your Way of Thinking 175

In America we have been conditioned to follow the rules. But what happens when the rules change and the system does not protect you?

Chapter 14 Showtime: Dealing with Your Lender 185

The first lesson in learning how to think (and act) differently is how to renegotiate. Even if you have a bad mortgage on a property you own, you have more leverage than you think, even in foreclosure.

Chapter 15 Know When to Fold: The Time to Walk Away, and How to Do It 197

Sometimes it no longer makes sense to fight for a property. Then you need to know how to get out with the least possible damage.

Index 202

R. Donahue Peebles is Chairman and CEO of The Peebles Corporation, one of the nation's most successful real estate investment firms. A leading developer and entrepreneur, his portfolio includes four-star hotels and residential and commercial properties in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Miami Beach. He is also the author of The Peebles Principles, from Wiley. Find big profits in any marketâ??with expert advice from real estate mogul R. Donahue Peebles

A few years ago, the experts said you couldn't lose in real estate. Now, they're saying you can't win. The truth has always been more complicated. Even when the market was only going up, people made plenty of bad deals. And even now, you can still find plenty of good ones. You can always win in real estate, provided you have the right knowledge and exercise good judgment in the deals you make.

In The Peebles Path to Real Estate Wealth, multimillionaire investor R. Donahue Peebles shows you how to follow the path he took to real estate richesâ??by starting small with smart investments and building up to bigger, more profitable properties. Based on his own personal experience and examples from across the nation, Peebles shows you how to measure real value and find deals in any market.

If you want to invest smart and earn big profits, The Peebles Path to Real Estate Wealth gives you all the tools to succeed:

• A full explanation of the current housing crisisâ??how it happened and where the markets are going

• Fundamental investing tools, including a crash course in property valuation, practical data and resources, and proven tips on negotiating with lenders and sellers

• A proven plan for building wealth in the new real estate climate with expert guidance on understanding your local market, measuring real value, investing in residential and commercial properties, and structuring your deals

Markets go through natural cycles of ups and downs. With The Peebles Path to Real Estate Wealth, you'll understand those cycles, learn to measure the true value of properties, and grow your real estate empireâ??especially when the market is down.