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| The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings | 
 enlarge | Author: Steve Berges
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $32.95
Buy New: $18.20
You Save: $14.75 (45%)
Buy New/Used from $18.12
Avg. Customer Rating:  (36 reviews)
Sales Rank: 42992
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 328
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0471684058
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.338
EAN: 9780471684053
ASIN: 0471684058
Publication Date: December 20, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Well written guide August 20, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is a concise well written guide to the core issues of buying, owning and selling multifamily buildings. It was extremely valuable in evaluating our first purchase of a multi-family structure.
 4.5 stars for another good book by Steve Berges August 17, 2006
40 out of 41 found this review helpful
As a real estate investor and author myself, I read a lot of real estate books. Many, if not most, are written by folks who do not invest in real estate themselves; they only write about it. Berges is not one of them. He knows his stuff and it's clear that he practices what he preaches. I have read three of his books and, I must say, he's one of my favorite real estate authors. You can trust what he says. Experienced investors may want a bit more detail from Steve, but what he does say is accurate and safe. This is a good book on buying apartments. In fact, in my own book, "Investing in Duplexes, Triplexes & Quads," I list the best books I've read on different areas of real estate. This book is the ONLY book I recommend on investing in commercial multifamily (ie, apartments of 5 units and up) properties.
Having given those accolades, here are a few of my constructive criticisms:
1. On pages 37 and 38, Steve gives nice charts illustrating the long-term financial benefits of investing in multifamily properties. On page 39, however, there is an error in referring to the big numbers shown. The reference is made to Investor A's "equity" of $2.1 million and Investor B's (the multifamily property investor) equity of $92 million. I just don't think Steve caught this, but those numbers don't refer to the investor's equity, but to the fair market value of his collective assets (his properties). The investor's equity might be in the range of 20% of that. I do like the charts, however, and I used a similar analysis in my recent book. One other note on the charts - they presume selling and buying exactly at the end of one year - a difficult task as Steve would surely admit. On average, I think 18 months to two years is a better time frame for flipping apartments.
2. Refinancing - Steve didn't give a chart showing the long-range effect of the "buy, hold and refy" strategy (using proceeds to buy again, but retaining the first property). In addition, Steve only mentioned the general banking guideline that you can only pull out cash up to 80% of the new appraised value (i.e., the bank has an LTV of 80%). However, you can get around this. I've done it. It requires a second lender giving a second mortgage, with a CLTV (combined loan to value) of up to 90%. As such, you can pull out much more cash.
3. GRM - gross rent multiplier. In his financial analysis section, Steve doesn't give much detail or provide real life examples on this crucial analysis factor. Granted, the cap rate is the analysis primarily used for commercial real estate, while the GRM is the one used for residential multifamily (2-4 units) real estate. Since many owners and selling brokers will "fudge" on expenses, a cap rate can be very hard to verify. The GRM, however, is fairly simple - just look at the lease agreements.
4. Lack of coverage on residential multifamily apartments. In fact, this is why I wrote my book on this topic. If Steve had covered it here, I would not have written mine. I like Steve's writing style and he knows his stuff. But for investing in small multifamily properties (certainly on residential, but probably up to about 10 units), we really have to cover valuation and selection of properties using the GRM. That and I felt like the "buy, hold, and refy" strategy needed much more coverage.
But for investing in commercial multifamily properties, I recommend this book as the only good one on the market.
Larry Loftis
Author: Investing in Duplexes, Triplexes and Quads: The Fastest and Safest Way to Real Estate Wealth
Apartment Building Buyer Guide March 1, 2006
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
Excellent and reasonably comprehensive introduction to the
business of investing in multifamily properties.
 Just TOO basic... August 20, 2005
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
I made the mistake of ordering this book without first reading the reviews. I admit I was regret when I received it and start reading it. The contents cover everything but just too basic. If you have the knowledge of buying and selling SFH, you basically do not need this book. Save your $20.
Fundamentally Sound July 23, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is the second Steve Berges book that I've read. I read his book, "The Complete Guide to Real Estate Investing". He focused on obtaining value once you make the purchase. That is very sound advice. With so many people investing in property hoping to make a profit after they fix it, Steve urges you to pursue profitability prior to making any modifications. Do not pursue property that requires capital investment or upgrades prior to a positive cash flow. That's very basic but sage advice.
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