Business Site Selection, Location Analysis and GIS
All organizations-businesses, government agencies, and even individuals face location and relocation decisions: where to open a new store, where to build a new factory, where to locate a new transportation hub? Written by two of the leading researchers in the field, here is the first book to cover the convergent use of GIS for Location Science analysis. The book’s integrated approach enables analysts to look beyond theoretical location constructs to focus on the resolution of actual siting problems, producing better data and model representations, developing better solution approaches, and providing better visualization of location alternatives than otherwise possible.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Good, but it coluld be even better
Nice book. It brings a complete view of GIS and site location, including the math. Perhaps, the addition of some cases could increase its value.
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The Coming Crash in the Housing Market : 10 Things You Can Do Now to Protect Your Most Valuable Investment
Today’s real estate market is a house of cards–learn what homeowners can do to prepare for its pending collapse
Soaring home prices and 50-year low interest rates have lulled homebuyers into a false sense of security. But plummeting consumer confidence and record-high personal debt threaten to blindside overextended homeowners and real estate investors.
The Coming Crash in the Housing Marketshows homeowners how to avoid owing more to lenders than their houses are worth–known as an “underwater” mortgage–and reveals commonsense steps for protecting one’s assets when the bottom falls out.
In this compelling, well-documented book, renowned economic consultant John Talbot tells current and potential homeowners how to survive and thrive in tomorrow’s world of slashed home values. He presents:
- Convincing reasons why the housing market will likely crash within two years
- Startling similarities between this and previous economic disasters
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Was it genius or just luck? Definitely luck!
Every year bunch of pundits write books about the next market crash. Eventually, half of them are right. But, they are often just Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets. Talbott predicted the housing downturn back in 2002, three years before it occurred. Was it genius or just dumb luck? After studying his book, I conclude it was luck. Read on to find out why.
Talbott develops home valuation metrics that are methodologically flawed. He compares the Debt/Cash flow multiple of sound LBO transactions (around 7 times) vs the ones he estimates for home borrowers (around 14 times). But, he omits that the interest rates on the junk bonds financing LBOs were twice as high as mortgage rates. The resulting debt service burden on the LBO is higher than the one on the mortgage borrower. He similarly looks at Price/Rent multiplier and Price per square foot of homes vs apartment buildings. Those are apples and oranges comparisons. It is like stating Google is overpriced because its P/E is higher than PG&E. But, Google P/E will always be much higher than PG&E because Google is a growth company meanwhile PG&E is a mature regulated utility. Similarly, rents are capped and regulated meanwhile home prices are not. The quality per square foot between homes and apartments are different. The privacy, lifestyle, amenities, amount of land are also different. The resulting demand and supply curves are very different too. Renters have much lower income than homeowners. Also, he again forgets the impact of interest rates. In table 6.4 he compares the price per square foot of homes in September 2002 vs apartments in January 2000. During this near three year period interest rates had dropped by 120 basis points. This alone should have caused apartment building prices to rise by 15%. Thus, his related price multiple of homes vs apartment is overstated. On table 6.3 he looks at home price/personal income multiple. Again, remember the Google vs PG&E analogy. There are fundamental reasons why Google has a higher P/E than PG&E. Similarly, there are many reasons why San Diego has a higher P/I multiple than Gary, Indiana. Climate, environment, job opportunities are big drivers of P/I multiples for cities just like earnings growth and business opportunities are for P/E of stocks.
Talbott also shows much data that actually contradicts his position that a housing bubble had started. He shows a graph of declining crime rates that renders communities more attractive and should support higher home prices. His graphs showing housing prices to income multiple and to cash flow multiple showed that such valuations were a lot lower than back in the early 80s. And, they did not crash back then. Figure 3.2 shows that LTV ratios had reverted back to the mean around 74% by 2002. Similarly, the % of homebuyers with LTV ratios of 90% or more in 2002 was far lower than in 1996. On figure 3.5 he shows that the coverage of interest expense by average worker’s cash flow steadily increased over the twenty year period from 1982 to 2002. All those facts did not support his bubble hypothesis.
There is a good reason why Talbott had to be lucky in his prediction: nothing in the data at the time suggested the onset of a housing bubble. He tortured the data every which way to support his arguments. But, as investigated above he failed.
Talbott also makes a lot of conceptual mistakes. He confuses cause and effect when he states that women had to enter the workforce so households could afford homes. Instead, women entering the workforce boosted household income which caused home prices to rise. Later he states “As he [Reagan] adopted a policy of borrowing to fund deficits, rather than printing money, inflation came under control.” But, running Budget Deficit would certainly not curb inflation. Meanwhile, printing money refers to the growth of the money supply that is not controlled by the President but by the Federal Reserve. During the Reagan years inflation came down not because he ran large Budget Deficits, but because Paul Volcker, Federal Reserve Chairman, restricted the growth of the money supply growth. On the graph of figure 3.1 he thinks he is showing how households are getting more leveraged by showing their rising debt over time. But, this graph is really meaningless without considering their rising assets over the same period. Hopefully his handle of plain economics will have improved in his upcoming book Obamanomics: How Bottom-Up Economic Prosperity Will Replace Trickle-Down Economics.
Talbott also cherry picks a lot of short-term trends that are meaningless. He shows a graph of stock returns during the dot.com crash (2000-2002) and is alarmed noting that home prices did increase during the same period. Later he shows a similar graph over a short term period showing how commercial real estate prices decreased meanwhile home prices increased. But, all those graphs are showing is that stocks, commercial real estate, and residential estates are separate asset classes with somewhat uncorrelated returns. Their divergence over short period of times is to be expected. This in itself did not mean home prices were overvalued at the time.
In the second section of the book his recommendations on protecting personal wealth range from the mundane to the ludicrous. He advices borrowers to reduce their leverage, carry adequate insurance, and diversify their portfolio. That’s common sense. Then he moves onto the ludicrous by recommending you sell your house and rent instead, or move to a cheaper home market area, or even consider bankruptcy filing as a preempting strike against your creditors.
If you want to better understand home price differentiation between cities I strongly recommend Richard Florida Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life. On the housing and credit crisis I recommend Charles Morris The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash.
5 Stars Saved me money
I have read this book when I was planning to buy a house in 2003. After I read it, I did not, which now saved me a lot of money. Good analysis, convincing examples. Thanks John.
5 Stars He was Right.
You guys were all wrong.
He was right!
Read this book and profit tomorrow.
5 Stars A Belated Thank You
In 2003, when I was looking to buy a house and realtors were trying to get me to agree to a higher price than I thought I could afford, I became bewildered and confused by the strange situation in which I was prequalified to spend a quarter of a million dollars, and yet that was only enough to buy a house that was likely to flood every year when the nearby river rose. I finally decided I needed more information, so I went to the book store and scoured the shelves and shelves of books on how to buy a house. There, amid all the titles like “Flipping Properties,” I found John Talbott’s book. I was halfway through it before I looked up and realized I had probably better pay for it and take it home.
This book changed the course of my life. If I had not read it, I might well have been among the many people who are now foreclosing on their homes and losing everything they have. I would certainly have still been a wage slave, working ridiculous hours to try to pay for a home I could not afford, and which was not worth what I’d paid.
Thanks to The Coming Crash in the Housing Market, I not only did not buy a house at the worst possible time, but actually convinced my mother to sell her home after retiring and move to a more affordable town. She sold JUST IN TIME.
So I just want to say Thank you, Mr. Talbott, for saving my family. Your book was probably the best investment I ever made.
5 Stars Hindsight is 50/50
I purchased and read this book back in 2003. Talbott was right. You could not have asked for a more accurate guide book on how to prepare for and then to navigate this disastrous economic crash. It played out step by step as he described it. I think the only thing he missed was the actual timing.
I actually took some of his advice and applied some of his ideas and it saved me from the disaster that many millions of homeowners have made.
I applied # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10. I sold my properties in California for a large profit and purchased property in another state. This was the best action to take.
Talbott’s 10 actions to avoid this mess.
1. Decrease you exposure to residential real estate.
2. Move from a high priced area to a lower priced area.
3. Manage your debt leverage better.
4. Hedge your exposure to residential real estate
5. Plan now in case of major transition event.
6. Examine other contingency plans.
7. Maintain adequate insurance.
8. Understand Bankruptcy protections.
9. Become more civicly involved.
10. Reassess your life priorities.
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Country Property Dirt Cheap: How I Found My Piece of Inexpensive Rural Land…Plus My Adventures with a $300 Junk Antique Tractor
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars A great guide by example
For those that are looking for an A-B-C, follow the list type guide to finding cheap land, keep on looking. Though there is a list of the steps used, it takes only a couple of pages near the end. If you are too lazy to read the rest, and instead skip to the list, you will miss out on a lot of good advice.
Now for the rest of you that are smart enough to enjoy Mr. Turner’s tale of how he found it, and glean the tidbits of information bestowed throughout the tale, you will walk away with invaluable information that will let you find the land that you want at a price you can afford.
4 Stars usefull advice, one man’s success story
Turner’s tale of his search for rural land is a fun read. anyone looking at this page and reading this review obviously has a little dream of buying a piece of land – and this book is not only full of good advice for your own search, but it’s inspiring. Turner used tactics that I certainly wouldn’t have though of. The books is not written like a how-to book, in fact it almost resembles a journal more than anything. But sometimes a little down to earth anecdote is nice to read before bed. It’s a very fast and pleasant 230 pages that will likely leave you optimistic about your chances of finding a piece of rural land. Good luck!
5 Stars Well written and easily read
This book is an excellent and quick read- I finished it in one day. Although not directly suited to my purpose, the book contains great advice on finding a small acreage (4-12) property in the country.
Most of all the book made me feel even better about our opportunities- as the writer repeatedly commented on how much easier his search would have been if he was looking to buy 40 or more acres of land. Wouldn’t you know it, that is what we are looking to do.
The author has a flowing and folksy writing style, that doesn’t get bogged down with too much technical real estate jargon- and footnotes are provided in the rare instances where technical terms occur. This book is in many ways much more than a book about how to buy property cheap, it is the author’s life story- his dreams and aspirations for a place in the country since his boyhood.
I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to purchase land in the country.
4 Stars Well-written Real Estate Adventure !
Every several years many of us daydream about buying some country property on a lake or a stream somewhere, away from all the demands of our jobs and modern society in general. This book enables one to not only walk alongside someone who did just that, but to “get in his head” and experience his joys, frustrations and–finally–success as he finds a piece of country property “dirt cheap.”
Not only is this a a well-written story that you won’t be able to put down, but there are quite a few nuggets of real estate wisdom that have enormous practical value — regardless of what part of the country you live in. As such, it should be required reading for every Principles of Real Estate class.
5 Stars A good read!
Once in a while a book comes along that I find difficult to put down, this was such a book. The author comes across as a genuine and decent person with the same hopes and dreams that many of us have. As a person who likes anything that has to do with the country and having a place of my own someday, I find books of this nature to be very appealing! I found that Mr. Turner writes in a way that captivates me and makes the book very enjoyable! Also, I have learned a good deal about real estate transactions that I had never before known such as abstracts, warranty deeds and so on. As a Californian, Mr. Turners descriptions of land of multiple acreage for under $10K almost seems unreal and a thing of the far past, even though I realize this book was written in the 90s. For someone who is interested in purchasing their own dream parcel I highly recommend this book, very inspiring. Hopefully someday Mr. Turner will write a follow up to this adventure?
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The Last of the Handmade Dams: The Story of the Ashokan Reservoir
The Last of the Handmade Dams tells the story of building New York City’s first great Catskill Mountain Resevoir, largely built by pick-and-shovel work. It was a triumph of engineering but with profound consequences for more than 2,000 persons in the flooded Ashokan Valley. Elevem communites were razed for the mammoth project. 2,000 graves were disinterred and relocated. The story is told in all aspects: political, social, engineering. It tells of immigrant laborers and their problems, of the dislocations and the lore of the drowned valley all that remained as the waters rose.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Good Book
The book was good. It is interesting to learn about the villages that were destroyed
5 Stars “Open the Dam Road”
The title of my review is a headline recently printed in a local newspaper. Fears of terrorism have caused the powers protecting the reservoir to close one of the roads around it.
I enjoyed the book because of the background information, especially the politics of the building of the great reservoir. From one who sees the reservoir fairly often, it’s a great story. The author manages to resurrect the drowned villages to the best of his ability.
The book is a quick read.
More!!!
5 Stars New York State History, Done Well
This is a great book that tells the story of how the City of New York literally had an entire valley stripped clean to build a reservoir for drinking water. The Esopus River Valley in the Catskill Mountains, about 100 Miles north of New York City was chosen as the site for the reservoir.
A really easy read, this book explains all of the challenges the engineers and workers faced. Displacing entire towns, removing every living thing, and the graveyards too, is an amazing story! Historically accurate and filled with colorful stories, this book is really great for anyone interested in history.
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Certified MBA Exam Prep Guide
Developed by the best subject matter experts in the business field, South-Western?s Certified MBA Exam Prep Guide delivers nearly 1700 highly-targeted practice exam questions aligned directly with the objectives for the 10 key subject areas covered in the actual CMBA Exam: Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Quantitative Analysis, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Finance, Marketing Management, Operations Management, Organizational Behavior and Strategy. These subject areas reflect the four core curriculum areas required across all accredited MBA programs. Complete with answers and test-taking tips, this CMBA Exam Prep Guide also provides study inventories to measure your understanding and lists of additional resources all designed to help fully prepare you for success on the CMBA Exam. Now, more than ever, your future depends on taking responsibility for your individual success as a business professional. Step up. Accept the CMBA challenge.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars It’s the only one so far
Well, let’s see. I’m beginning my MBA soon and am transcribing this into my computer for a little advance preparation. There are questions that my sole 200-level accounting course has prepared me to answer; some of the questions are written so poorly that you have to assume information (albeit not important info normally); it was obviously written by different people as the questions will change format/wording from section to section; there should have been an additional editing as there are repeated questions and small typo errors; and there are no “interactive and prescriptive electronic review modules” as stated on the back cover – at least that’s what the publisher has replied to my e-mail. I cannot determine if it will assist me in my studies or in preparing for the CMBA, but I believe it is filling my idle time with a worthwhile task. All things considered I believe the next edition will have to be improved.
3 Stars Certified MBA Exam Prep Guide
This prep guide’s first part is a long list of the topics covered by the exam, and its second part is 15 – 25 multiple choice questions on each topic. It is obviously a compilation of many different people’s work, and really needs to be edited for uniformity. In a few cases, the answers are incomplete or incorrect. One thing that I did not like is that the answer is printed directly below each question, so I had to spend several hours covering the answers up with post-it notes in order to be able to work through the questions without seeing the answer. Another drawback is that none of the answers are explained – all you know is whether you got the right answer or not, which makes the guide less useful as a study tool. However, it is good for helping you identify your areas of weakness so that you can study the material elsewhere. I haven’t taken the exam yet, so I can’t comment on how well the prep questions match up with the topics on the actual exam.
3 Stars Could be better
This is really a thick comprehensive book, with one major flaw in my opinion; the answers are printed below each question instead of grouped in an appendice. The eyes flow directly to the answer before the brain can process the question. A better layout (answers in an appendice) would force the reader to work through and think about the problem first. In the absence of any other test-prep book for this exam, you should buy it anyway, warts and all. I think it is money well spent but look forward to a revised edition.
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The Facility Management Handbook: 2nd Edition
When a company’s facilities are intelligently, cohesively managed — rather than just haphazardly operated — the results go straight to the bottom line. And given the high costs associated with facilities, the savings that good management brings are significant.
Now completely revised and updated, this bestseller covers the entire facility management arena, including:
** strategic facility business planning
** leadership
** managing the design process
** managing facility finances
** leasing
** operations, maintenance, and repair
** benchmarking, cost savings/avoidances, and more.
“When a company’s facilities are intelligently, cohesively managed — rather than just haphazardly operated — the results go straight to the bottom line. And given the high costs associated with facilities, the savings that good management brings are significant.
Now completely revised and updated, this best-seller covers the entire facility management arena, including:
* strategic facility business planning
* leadership
* managing the design process
* managing facility finances
* leasing
* operations, maintenance, and repair
* benchmarking, cost savings/avoidances, and more.”
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Bible for FM
I am a Certified Facility Manager (CFM) and an Interior Designer and have been in the industry for over 15 years working now as a consulant primarily focusing on strategic planning. This is recognized as the go-to reference for all that is Facilities Management (FM). I still, even with my experience, review sections and have referred this book to many peers and clients. Cotts will always be someone in our industry who brought FM to the forefront and makes everyone aware that it’s not just “fixing toilets!” Recommended for anyone who is head of facilities management, planning, administration or real estate for both Government and private industry. Also, coming from the design community, this book should be on every planners shelf. The value chain cycle begins with concept, but many in the design industry forget that this includes construction, operations and maintenance, and lastly disposal.
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Robert’s Guide to Commercial Real Estate Investments: Insider Secrets to Commercial Real Estate Investing
This book provides the basics of Commercial Real Estate Investments from an insider’s point of view. It is written to be practical, informative, and easy to understand. It takes an honest and straightforward approach not often found in published works.
It was written with the intention that it will arm you with basic information and dispel some common myths about commercial real estate investments. It contains background and honest opinions that should give a solid foundation to start working from. All of this can save a lot of wasted time at the beginning of your commercial real estate investment endeavors and help you on your way to making money.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Finally
Finally, a book that is written for those not necessarily experts in the field. The author makes all the applications very understandable. Well written, clear and concise. Thank you Mr. Morse.
5 Stars Great Book
This book explains commercial real estate very well. It is an easy read but is very informative. I really like all of the calculations it gives in regards to the time value of money. Very helpful!!
5 Stars Excellent CRE reference!
I worked in the CRE industry for a few years and found myself frustrated from the lack of clear easy to understand, detailed industry information available. Robert’s Guide is the answer to that problem. The book is full of terms and definitions that are hard to find, but essential for anybody involved in commercial real estate. The explanations were thorough with insightful tips and recommendations to make a sometimes convoluted subject matter, easy to understand, digest, and make decisions about. I strongly recommend this book.
5 Stars The Basics from an Insider
This is a great little book that covers the basics from an experienced insider… It has a broad overview of the industry, discusses the basics of the different things an investor needs to know, some great tips on how things work and enough detail to get a new investor going successfully.
I have invested for a while and have found the book valuable in filling some of the information that I have guessed about… I wish I had this book before starting. Thanks to the author for answering my questions in a clear and concise manner.
2 Stars Book Review
The book is OK but I was looking more for examples of structured deals and how to do deals. This is more of an encyclopedia of commercial real estate terms. If this is what you’re looking for great. If you’re looking for how to do deals and how to put deals together this ain’t it.
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Be a Real Estate Millionaire: Secret Strategies To Lifetime Wealth Today
A master money maker tells you how to make your fortune in real estate.
Be a Real Estate Millionaire will teach you Dean Graziosi’s personal strategies for turning real estate “losers” into winners. Discover the seven keys to uncovering “hidden real estate values.” Learn to identify the five types of real estate markets and the right strategy for each. Take Dean’s local market analysis test to determine the exact nature of your local real estate market. Receive Dean’s unique formula for win-win-win real estate transactions and experience how you can make money while helping others make money, too. Let Dean share his strategies and secrets and help you become a real estate millionaire today. Read and act on Dean’s advice and you too will become a real estate millionaire. Discover the Seven Keys to Hidden Real Estate Values Find the Seller’s “Magic Buttons” Learn How to Identify the Five Types of Real Estate Markets Take the Local Market Analysis Test Match the Proper Strategy with Your Local Market
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Stars No longer relavant to the foreclosure market we are in.
There are hardly any people who have enough equity to bother with. I wouldn’t spend the money at all.
4 Stars Good Book
This book is a good reference for real estate investing. It starts off very slow, but gets to the meat of the book midway.
1 Stars Junk from a used car salesman
A friend of mine lent me his copy of this book to read. What a waste of time. Im sure he earns a good living by infomercials but I highly doubt in Real Estate (remember, just a few years ago he had an infomercial on how he got/to get rich flipping used cars). The book is short on practicle real estate investment advice but long on boilerplate stuff. I have been investing in real estate for a living for 20 years and have read many, many books on the subject, this one is not good.
If you want to learn about reale estate, forget about the get rich quick stuff. The advice I always give to interested rookie’s is to first read a good Real Estae principals book(like the one’s you have to study to get a Real estate license) Then I recommend John Schaub’s book Building Wealth One House at a Time. Its not a get rich quick book that doesn’t work but a get rick slow book that does.
1 Stars DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK
Like probably many I was intrigued by Dean’s TV infomercials which run all the time. So I decided to check this book out from the public library. Mr. Graziosi is first and foremost in the business of selling books and tapes. There are no secret strategies in this book and much of the information is overly simplistic and some of his advice such as using your credit card to buy real estate is down right foolish. The first 149 pages of “Be a Real Estate Millionaire” is dedicated to Dean the cheer leader and Dean the motivator. On page 198 Dean gives a skeleton background on the use of options. Options are a wonderful tool for buying real estate but this book does a poor job of really explaining how to use them.
I have been investing in single family homes for the past 18 years. I learned how to invest in single family homes by attending local real estate exchanges. There are local real estate exchanges in every major city and you can find them in Google through the National Real Estate Investors Association estate. At these meeting you will hear guest speakers and meet like minded people who invest in single family homes. Get to know the people with gray hair, who own more than 10 homes and have been investing in single family homes for the past 40 years. These folks are your mentors.
I would also recommend that you check out John Schaub or Jack Miller. Both have invested in over 1000 single family homes and have been doing it a lot longer than Dean Graziosi and are much wiser.
1 Stars RIP OFF ALERT !!!!!!! My actual rating is zero stars.
I did not buy this book, but another of the Dean Graziosi’s creations titled, “Profit From Real-Estate Right Now! The Proven No Money Down System For Today’s Market!” on February 2, 2009 after watching a pretty convincing infomercial. Different product, same author, same story.
The author has a host of products he tries to get you to buy. I cautiously purchased only one to see if it was worth my time. I will never again purchase a product after watching an infomercial without checking reviews or doing a little research first.
As stated in the other postings for his book, “Be A Real Estate Millionaire”, the book I purchased is 98% motivational fluff and 2% useless information that fail to give the reader a step by step system to follow as promised by the author.
Today, February 13, 2009, I noticed a charge by this company dated February 12, 2009, for a purchase I did not authorize. I was charged for this author’s Foreclosure Alert program. I only ordered one product, the book “Profit From Real-Estate Right Now! The Proven No Money Down System For Today’s Market!” I first called my bank and then the company, using the number listed with the charge and received a message stating I have either called during a high volume call time or after business hours and given the option to leave a message with the promise of someone returning my call within 24 hours. I left a message and began searching for information regarding the company thereafter.
Strangely enough, the experience described by C.J. Montgomery, is the foreshadowing I perceive for my case.
After reading the listed reviews, I immediately called my bank a second time taking the necessary steps to assure this company will no longer have access to my funds to repeatedly charge me for products I did not ask for.
BUYER BE WARE!!!!!!!!!!
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Be a Successful Residential Land Developer
Veteran construction contractor, and building trades authority, R. Dodge Woodson shows how to profitably transform raw land into housing. This practical guide covers every phase of the land development process as well as essential business practice fundamentals.
NEW TO THIS EDITION: finding and selling property via the Internet, more information on finance and insurance issues, the latest in land ordinances and runoff issues and EPA requirements
Contents: Why Should I Get Into Land Development? * Can I Really Do It? * The Development Team and Selecting the Viable Project * Finding Hidden Treasure * Tying Up Land Without A Full Commitment * Having Your Experts Do Preliminary Checks * Going Over the Ground, From Top to Bottom * Planning On Paper * Storm Water Drainage * Deciphering the Dirt Water Requirements * Land Lost and Costs for Roads * Flood Zones * Location, Location, Location * Plans and Specifications * Getting Developer Bids • Sales Projections * Financing * Zoning • Closing Your Land Deal * Insurance and Subcontractor Needs * Rolling Out the Big Rigs and Site Supervision * Keeping Your Projects on Time and on Budget * A Marketing Plan and Sales Team * New Projects
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Intro to development that could be half as long
A fairly useful overview that describes the issues a developer has to address, but not much about how to address them. For some reason the author tends to repeat himself. He says something and then restates it. He makes the same point twice.
He also tends to be rather vague: “Some aspects of site supervision can be dealt with in many ways. Some ways are more cost-effective than others.” The book is full of statements like this.
I have found the book useful to help me identify issues that I need to think about, but if you are looking for answers–this book isn’t for you. It should be titled, “What to Expect as a Land Developer.”
1 Stars Nothing New Here
Lets face it……if you know anything at all about developing land, the absolute critical item is actually finding a piece of property that makes sense to wast time pursuing. I bought this book hoping to find some insight into ways of “finding” that elusive “good fit” property that maybe I have not thought of. Nothing new here, just some odball potential sources of finding property that just waste your time
4 Stars great start
Woodson doesn’t tell the reader how to survey, do his/her own drawings, tell how to design a curb and gutter system. I didn’t expect him to! He does walk you through how to get started on the path to be a land developer, including who and/or where to go for the details you will need to get further information, as well as the long list of subjects and details the potential developer needs to consider and explore.
1 Stars A waste of money
Elementary discussion of land development. Lacks detail and interest.
the accompanying “checklists and forms” are not in a format that can be manipulated. Nothing is in Word as the description suggests, all in PDF format. Not useful at all.
5 Stars Great Start
I found this book to contain a great wealth of information. I did not expect to find the meticulous details of every facet of land development, rather a good overview, and this book provides that. Anyone seriously interested in land development will need to do a great deal of additional study in technical publications and local state, county and city codes. This topic is so broad that I doubt any single book could cover all the issues involved. If you’re looking for a primer and are prepared to dig deeper, this book is for you. If you’re looking for a single comprehensive book on every detail of land development please let me know when you find it!
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Real Estate Finance in a Nutshell (Nutshell Series)
This work presents a thorough overview of the law of real estate finance. It covers introductory matters, the mortgage market, real estate financing devices, the underlying obligation, mortgaged property, and transfer of both the mortgagor’s interest and the mortgagee’s interest. In addition, the volume treats rights and obligations after default and before foreclosure, priorities, foreclosure, and financing cooperatives and condominiums. The text also addresses reform. Legal principles are stated along with their underlying theories to enhance understanding of the law of real estate finance.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Lawish review
This is a no bones about it law book. I was interested in real estate finance and the law. This is more a law book then anything. It shows and angle to real estate law few comprehend. It also discusses real estate options and other transactions. You’ll definitely be on the same level or better then your real estate agent. The reading isn’t tough but you have to make sure you can comprehend reading. If you find that your reading comprehension is low you may have a difficult time with this book. Its real estate law in a non-colloquial language.
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