The Donald Trumps and Sam Zells of the real estate world employ an army of expensive consultants, accountants and lawyers to help devise their high-powered strategies.
Small investors generally don’t have such direct access at their beck and call, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get good information from experts.
There are a number of relatively inexpensive newsletters that cater to small investors. They provide insider knowledge on everything from finding and making deals, creative financing techniques and scam alerts to motivational success stories.
The newsletters are written by veteran, hands-on real estate investors who decided to share their insights and experience.
The tip sheets generally are published monthly and run at least eight pages. Most publishers will provide a sample copy.
– Real Estate Investor’s Monthly. Jack Reed, whose subscribers are fairly sophisticated investors, generally concentrates on at least two principal topics each month. His forte is a no-nonsense look beneath the hype of the latest investment wrinkles.
When he finds a good one, he provides a case history detailing how the deal worked, frequently with actual dollar figures. This year he has written about the best regions of the country in which to invest, strategies for buying property 20 percent below market, high-tech real estate and using offshore trusts for asset protection.
Not only does he describe what to watch for, he also tells what to watch out for. When he finds flaws in investment strategies, Reed isn’t afraid to criticize his investor brethren.
Reed, who began publishing the newsletter in 1986, also keeps tabs on the latest legislative activity in Washington and provides timely updates on IRS and other tax-related changes.
Annual subscription, $125, 8 pages; 342 Bryan Dr., Danville, Calif., 94526; 510-820-6292.
– Real Estate Newsletter. Robert Bruss writes for homeowners as well as mom-and-pop investors. It is a concise and clearly written report that demystifies real estate.
Bruss picks a single topic each month and then provides a nuts-and-bolts overview of how a concept or strategy works. He has advised newcomers on getting started in real estate investing, lease options and equity sharing.
Bruss has broad-based knowledge that comes from his background as an active investor, a former real estate sales agent and as an (inactive) attorney.
Many of his newsletter topics are suggested by readers of his nationally syndicated column on real estate, which appears in the Your Money section every other Thursday.
Annual subscription, $35, 8 pages; Tribune Media Services, 435 North Michigan Ave., Suite 1408, Chicago, Ill. 60611; 800-788-1225.
– Financial Freedom Report. Initially a monthly magazine founded 19 years ago by Mark O. Haroldsen, investor, author and seminar lecturer, it is now published quarterly.
The well-written quarterly provides basic information on acquiring property, financial planning, fixers and landlording. Recent articles included ways investors can protect themselves against natural disasters, investing in single-family homes and an anatomy of a deal that went bad.
Annual subscription, $160; 4505 S. Wasatch Blvd., Salt Lake City, Utah 84124; 800-289-9715.
– Mr. Landlord. Jeffrey E. Taylor founded Mr. Landlord in 1985 to help investors avoid the mistakes he made when he started investing in real estate. The newsletter hits 8 or 10 points in each issue. Recent issues dealt with problem tenants, proper evictions and tenant retention.
Annual subscription, $69; P.O. Box 64442, Virginia Beach, Va. 23467; 800-950-2250 (callers can request a free sample copy).
– Creative Investment Advisor. Jane Garvey took over this Chicago-based publication six years ago after the death of her husband, Marc Goodfriend.
Subscribers run the gamut from high school dropouts to Ph.D.s. Early on, CIA provided much more specific tactics for investors, such as rolling options and buy-sell strategies for hot or cold markets. But the information has tended to become more generalized over the last few years, and some of it can be obtained elsewhere.
Subscription, $59 for one year, $98 for two years; P.O. Box 495, Glen Ellyn, Ill. 60138; 708-858-4663.
Then there’s the arcane world of mortgage notes. Two newsletters that keep small investors apprised of the going-ons in the discount mortgage business are The Paper Source, founded in 1987 by William J. Mencarow, a former congressional PR officer, and NoteWorthy, a newsletter published in San Francisco by real estate investor Jonathan Richards.
– The Paper Source. The discount mortgage field undoubtedly is one of the most esoteric areas of real estate investing. But this monthly newsletter is written in easily understandable language.
Recent topics include how investors can find property owners who have notes to sell and investing in financially unattractive notes.
Annual subscription, $119, 12 pages; 233 Brookneill Dr., Winchester, Va. 22602; 800-542-2270.
– NoteWorthy. This newsletter is for sophisticated note buyers and brokers who truly know their way around a financial calculator.
It explores different techniques-from how to buy a fraction of a note, how to purchase with a split down payment and other exotic strategies-to obtain higher profits. NoteWorthy frequently has a real-life puzzle of the month designed to stimulate and educate investors.
Sample: “If the seller of a note for $50,000 at 10 percent, amortizing 15 years, payable at $537.30 per month accepted $29,840 for the first 90 months and then the note reverted to him, what would be the note seller’s new interest rate?”
Annual subscription, $89; P.O. Box 31451, San Francisco, Calif. 94131; 415-824-1864.
The answer, by the way, is 7.9 percent.
