Investing in Duplexes, Triplexes, and Quads: The Fastest and Safest Way to Real Estate Wealth Paperback – May 1, 2006

Instead of delivering a few nuggets of information, this book delivers the gold mine. It's written so well that page after page, chapter after chapter, it delivers just the right information at just the right time. I couldn't put it down and read through it in just 3 evenings after work (I can't believe I'm saying that about a real estate investment book).The author gets right to the point and gives you the facts about what works and what doesn't work for investing in real estate. He shows you how investing in multi-family properties (2 - 4 family dwellings) is the easiest, lowest cost, and least risky way to get started making your fortune. He takes you from knowing nothing to being fully armed and ready to go make your first purchase. Best of all, he shares many intimate details on his own purchases, deals he walked away from, and deals he wished he would have completed.When you're done with the book you understand: 1) how to find properties, 2) how to determine the value of a property, 3) verification and due diligence, 4) the process of making offers, 5) how closing works and what to expect, 6) managing your property, 7) the ins and outs of the three key real estate growth strategies: Buy and Hold, Refinancing, and Pyramiding.Now that I have read this book, I'm already out looking at multi-family properties and will soon be completing my first purchase. I'm just an average guy with not much in savings, but with what I have learned from this book I can see a clear path to making several million dollars in real estate in just a few years. All that for just the $12.97 I paid for this book on Amazon... it almost seems unfair.

This is one of the best books I've read on multifamily residential housing. It is exceptionally comprehensive , makes a very compelling case for the investment of sort of real estate, clearly defines the distinction between multifamily residential real estate vs single family and commercial, drives very clear illustration on HOW to invest in it at a system level, AND it does so in a entertaining , accurate and well flowing structure. In my opinion , this book is a masterpiece within my 1000+ bookprivate library at the house. Mr Loftis also makes excellent recommendations to other books within this book. The reference to "Landlording" is an excellent read. Mr Lostis' book was just what I needed to transition from single family residential (which I own 6 of) to multifamily residential (which I now own 1). Last note. Mr Loftis' book does a FINE job putting things in relativity. I live in Houston tx , the worst state for appreciation and among the country's lowest in standard deviation value. However. Cash flowing real estate opportunity is fantastic and of course ... He nails it. My opinion is that this book is perfect for the guy who isn't very smart , is not yet a capitalist, doesn't own an extraordinary asset portfolio , didn't do too well in math, has a reasonable amount of common sense , and NEEDS some serious and accurate insight on how to approach real estate at a system level. If it's true what they say that knowledge is power...then this book would be a mega ton nuclear bomb in the palm of your hand. Handle with care and respect it. Warren.

I have read many books, including five authored by Robert Kiyosaki, and his accountant. However, this book was must useful in illustrating how the process of acquiring your first property and continuing on until you have amassed a substantial real estate holding. As a young woman starting out in the business I wasn't sure how to evaluate a property. I am still working on that, however, Loftis provided me with the initial tools to get me off and running, and I've been in the race ever since. To complement Loftis' book I recommend that you also read Buy and Hold 7 Steps to Real Estate Fortune by David Schumacher. The truth of the matter is that no one book will provide individual with every detail you need to create a successful deal. Both Loftis and Schumacher explicitly state that you must study the growth potential of the area you intend to invest in. You must do this in order to build equity, which can be used as leverage to purchase your second property. Loftis does offer the blueprint that you can purchase a property every year and sell another through a 1031 exchange every two years. The idea is correct, even if the time doesn't work for everyone. The idea is to purchase a property for very little money down, usually no more than 10%, and that this property produce positive cash flow, or at the very least doesn't result in negative cash flow. Once you build equity, which can take more than a year, especially in these times, than you can use that equity as a downpayment to purchase a larger, more expensive property, and the cycle continues. I believe is outlook is optimistic as another reviewer pointed out, but isn't that the point? Aren't we trying to build wealth? We aren't going to be inspired to do it, if we don't try. I've read tons of books, and will continue to do so, I attend as many free mortgage and real estate financing seminars as possible, and I also read the paper and review the town websites of the areas I intend to invest in. Understand that Loftis and Schumacher both state that it can take an entire year to make one deal, but that deal will be a good one if you take the time to complete the due diligence. Investing in real estate is not as easy as investing in the stock market, where you review a company's prospectus and balance sheet. You have to dig deeper than that. If you are truly interested in investing in real estate for the long haul, than read this book. If you are only entertaining the idea of investing in real estate, than read books by Trump. They are entertaining, but offer very little substance.