Tenant Landlord Handbook

Baltimore Neighborhoods inc has released their 2011 version of their Guide to Local, State and Federal Laws, Governing Tenant-Landlord Relations.  This is an indispensable guide if you are a landlord in Maryland.

Their guides summarize and explain in simple terms, Maryland and local tenant landlord regulations.  A PDF flyer and order form are available here BNI Manuals.  The price goes up in October so order now.  They also offer local  supplements for various jurisdictions like Baltimore City.  If you click through to their form you will see they also offer leases and a tenant application and various other items useful to Maryland Landlords.

Who Is Baltimore Neighborhoods Inc.?

If you are a landlord and are not familiar with BNI, it is time to learn about them.  This is from their website

BNI’S MISSION…

BNI promotes justice in housing for all people in the State of Maryland through fair housing and tenant-landlord programs and public information activities.

BNI’s VISION…

BNI is committed to helping shape a more just society by ensuring equal opportunities in housing throughout the State of Maryland.  BNI promotes citizens living together as good neighbors without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation.

It would be tempting to say based on their vision and mission that they are a tenant advocacy organization. This often implies anti landlord.  In Baltimore Neighborhood Inc.’s case they recognize good tenant treatment starts with Landlord education.

Their manuals are an excellent example.  They are also willing to answer many of your land lording questions over the phone for free.  They are an excellent resource to keep you out of trouble.  Bookmark their website Baltimore Neighborhoods Inc.  They have lots of information there on fair housing and tenant landlord law.

Happy Land lording,

Ned

It’s only too late if you don’t start now

Barbara Sher – from her book title

Many people lament what they could have done, without realizing they can still do it.  Sadly the same things that kept them from doing it before keep them from doing it now.  Yet it is never to late to change and have a better life.

I haven’t read the book but it sounds interesting.  Buy it from Amazon and let me know what you think.

More great quotes here.

Happy investing

Ned

Seth Godin is a great marketer.  His book the Purple Cow is a fun read.  Hey who says business books have to be dry and boring.  Seth’s books certainly aren’t.  It is only 137 pages and a fast read.   But don’t let its small size fool you.  It has a powerful message.

A Purple Cow Is Remarkable

The concept of the book is simple.  If you have seen one cow you have seen them all.  But if you saw a purple cow, well that would be remarkable!  You’d notice a purple cow.  You’d tell your friends about a purple cow.  That is why I Am telling you about the book Purple Cow.  When it comes to marketing books this one is – remarkable.

Seth Godin will guide you through the changes that are happening in the marketplace.  He discusses why the old paradigm of marketing doesn’t work any more.  Seth also describes how the products need to change to be successful today.

Otaku – What you want in your customers

I learned a new work from this book, Otaku.

“Otaku describes something that’s more than a hobby but a little less than an obsession. Otaku is the overwhelming desire that gets someone to drive across town to try the new ramen-noodle shop that a great review”

This is what you want in your customers.  This is why your products have to be remarkable.

Seth Godin Is Fun

One quote from the book I love

“Does the US Postal Service hire Annoying people or just train them that way?”

It is a great example of his irreverence and his unique way of looking at things.  Sadly the US Postal Service never quite looked at their own business that way.

Now I haven’ given anything away that you couldn’t read on the flap of  the cover.  Seth ads value by the humor and the case studies.  So buy this book.  You’ll be glad you did.  I “steak” my reputation on it.  I wouldn’t “steer” wrong.  And that’s no bull!  (Sorry, I’ve got to milk it for all it’s worth)

Buy Purple Cow from Amazon here at a great price.

Happy Reading,

Ned

This book by Dave Lindahl is about repositioning Apartment buildings. This is truly one of the better books on real estate investing that I have read. While its primary focus in multi-family buildings, it has tremendous value for single family home investors also. Dave Lindahl got his start renovating single family properties and doing small 3 unit multi-family properties.

What is Repositioning

For those unfamiliar with the commercial property business a repositioning would be the equivalent of rehabbing a single family home. Rehabbing a single family home is usually done on a vacant property.  When the property is complete it is sold to a homeowner or landlord. Repositioning is generally a more complex process. It can often be done with tenants in place. Usually some renovation is required but it is more than just renovation It is often also about upgrading the tenants, management and the Position of the property in the marketplace. (By the way one of the best books on Marketing is called Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind Repositioning apartment buildings is in part applying it’s concepts)

Multi-Family Millions is Full of Tips

This book is full of tips. My copy is full of yellow highlighted pages. Many of these tips apply to rental properties of any size. One example would be his suggestion to offer tenants to paint an accent wall for an extra $20 a month. Or how about this tip

Replace faucets. Do not be cheap here! Inexpensive faucets are a maintenance headache, and end up costing you more overall. Get ones that are distinctive and elegant. Here’s my rule: If the tenant has to touch it regularly, make it special.

The book has advice on finding deals, working with contractors, smart renovation tips, financing your deals, negotiating and much more.

Who is Dave Lindahl

Dave invests in apartment buildings around the country. He started small. His first rental was a  3 unit building in a depressed  area. He now has over 5,000 units, so he know what he is talking about.

Who Should Buy this Book

Anyone who wants to invest in apartment buildings would find this to be a wonderful book. Yet there is value to single family home landlords, and rehabbers. As I said above this is one of the better books I have read on real estate investing. In addition to really solid information it is well written, easy to read and easy to understand. Just as importantly it is not full of irrelevant fluff like so many investing books. I recommend this book highly. You can buy it from Amazon at a great price here. Multi-Family Millions: How Anyone Can Reposition Apartments for Big Profits

Happy reading,

Ned

Motivational speaker Jim Rohn says “Rich people have large libraries, poor people have large TVs.” Reading is one of the best ways of improving oneself and your real estate knowledge. On the various real estate forums I go to, a common question is “What are the best real estate books?” One of my goals for this blog is to help answer that question.

Perhaps an even better question is “What types of books should I read?” To be successful you need more than just real estate skills and knowledge. As I read questions from new investors, I see they often lack knowledge not only in real estate, but general business, finance, and marketing.

Although I say books, many of the ones below are available as audio programs. I like to shop at Amazon.com. because they list other versions if they are available. You can often choose between a soft cover, hardcover, audio CD, or even a used book. Audio books are great because you can listen to them while driving or on you iPod. To make it easy for you I have linked directly to some of the books mentioned.

Motivational and Success Books

If you want to be and do your best you should be reading this type of book. A true classic in this category is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Another example of this type of book would be Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki. In this book Kiyosaki talks about the contrast between his real dad who followed the traditional get a good education, get a good job and work hard all you life routine vs. his best friend’s dad, who taught him about how money works and how to become wealthy. There is a whole series of “Rich Dad” books but the original or The Cash Flow Quadrant would be a great place to start.

Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People fits this category also. Books by, Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, and Zig Ziglar should also all be on your shelves.

Sales and Marketing

Selling is the key to success in any business. Even if you plan to be a buy and hold investor you need selling and marketing skills. You need to market for leads of properties to buy. You need to be able to sell your self to a bank for fianancing. Every business, every person needs selling skills. It is the power of persuasion.

This is a large category and there are plenty of books here. Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, Brian Tracy all have many books on selling. It would be hard to go wrong with anything those guys wrote. These are the guys that I studied when I was in sales. Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy or Positioning, The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout are both classics and outstanding in the marketing arena.

Business and Finance

Real estate is a business and you need business skills in addition to real estate knowledge to continually grow your business. The E-Myth Revisited by Micheal Gerber is very popular but I liked his E-Myth Contractor much better. Since he is talking about contractors it is easier to relate to. It is shorter, easier to read and I think simply does a better job of getting the point across. Another recent read which was quick and fun was Escaping the Self-Employment Trap by Victor Cheng.

There are books for just about any specific skill or aspect of business you want to learn about; hiring, firing, organization, accounting, taxes, the law etc. For example, many real estate investors want to know about LLCs. Do they need one? How do they create one? A good book in this area is Form Your Own Limited Liability Company by Nolo Press

Real Estate Books

OK, you probably want some books that are actually about real estate. Again there are a ton of options and you can choose from general books or books for a specific aspect investing. One of my favorite general books is Investing in Real Estate by Andrew McLean and Gary Eldred. I loved the book and my copy is filled with highlighted passages. I remember the review I read said it wasn’t for beginners. They probably said that because it’s not a “rah, rah, real estate is great” motivational book, but I think it is a great choice when getting started because it is chock full of useful info. It covers a wide variety of investing techniques and info.

Sometimes you don’t want a general book. You need information about a specific topic. A good example here would be, Inspecting a House by Carson Dunlop & Associates LTD.  By the time I read this book I felt pretty confident about doing my own inspections, yet I learned an incredible amount. The book has many diagrams of what to look for, is easy to understand and is well written. As an investor I usually write contracts with NO contingency for inspections. It’s vital for me to know what to look for before I write that contract. A book like this can really help.

Obviously there are many other excellent books on real estate available and I hope to review many of them over time. So stop back regularly and happy reading.

Ned
Image above © Jose Manuel Gelpi Diaz | Dreamstime.com

I bought this book based on a recommendation from Robert Kiyosaki in his Rich Dad’s Cash Flow Quadrant book. In it he calls The Worldly Philosophers one of the most important books he has read and calls it a must read for those who are in business or investors.

The book is about the history of Economics by describing the times, lives and philosophy’s of the great (and some not so great) economists. While I have certainly heard the names of many famous economists, Adam Smith, Marx, John Maynard Keynes etc I never really knew much about their exact philosophies. Thanks to this book I have a better understanding of what they taught. So when I hear the term “Keynesian Economics” I now know they are referring to government tinkering with the economy.

The book is interesting but not what I was expecting. The stories are more about the lives of the economists and how that shaped their theories, rather than a discussion of the theories themselves. If you want a book about the how to nuts and bolts of economics that you can apply in your life and business, this is not it. If you want a book that is interesting, that will challenge you, and will give you a solid background in history and economics this could be just the ticket.

You can buy it from Amazon.com here

Happy reading,

Ned

Do you ever feel like your life is so hectic that you are juggling elephants? I just finished a book with just that title. One of my resolutions this year is to be more productive. I want to do a better job of execution.  I know what I want. I know what to do. I need to get better at doing it. This is one of the books I read to help me in that goal.

This book is about being more productive and happy in your life by keeping your life in balance. It is a quick, fun to read book. Juggling Elephants is in the same vein as  Who Moved My Cheese, The One Minute Manager or Fish, in that a story is used to get its point across . The circus is used as a metaphor where, Mark (the dad), talks to a ringmaster at a circus he is visiting with his daughter. The ringmaster teaches him lessons about life by drawing analogies to the circus.

If you read a lot of success literature there is nothing earth shattering or new here, but often hearing a message in a new way is what will make it “click” for us.  This book does a great job of presenting solutions to common issues in a unique way.

 One message I could relate to is “There is no shortage of acts for the Circus” The acts must add value to and compliment the circus. Adding an act that doesn’t fit or is not as good as an existing act makes no sense. So it is with life. We need to prioritize and keep only the most valuable things in our life. We need to replace that which doesn’t fit.

I really enjoyed this book.  It is easy to read, lighthearted and fun. I would rate it four stars. On amazon it is rated 4 1/2 stars, which is actually higher than both Who Moved My Cheese or The One Minute Manager  mentioned above.

Buy it here from Amazon

   Happy reading,

Ned