The 10 best real estate books of 2005

By Bob Bruss

December 09, 2005

At the end of each year, it is my honor to select the 10 best real estate books out of the hundreds of realty books published that year. This article takes 52 weeks to prepare because I read at least one real estate book every week. These are the best of the best 2005 real estate books.

Selecting the top real estate books of 2005 was especially difficult because an unusually large number of new realty books were published this year. All these excellent real estate books are available in stock or by special order at local bookstores, public libraries, and www.amazon.com. Here, in no special order, are the 10 best real estate books of 2005, plus several honorable mentions:

1.) "Reverse Mortgages for Dummies," by Sarah Glendon Lyons and John E. Lucas (Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, NJ), $16.99, 249 pages. This is the best of several excellent 2005 books about the pros and cons of tax-free reverse mortgage income for senior citizen homeowners 62 or older. Especially valuable are the details about the three major reverse mortgage types, the advantages of each, their costs, and when obtaining a reverse mortgage is not a smart decision.

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2.) "Building Wealth One House at a Time," by John W. Schaub (McGraw-Hill, New York), $18.95, 225 pages. Written by a very successful 32-year investor in single-family rental houses, this book reveals why investing in local houses is the safest long-term realty investment. The author explains how he buys without obtaining bank mortgages and how to select profitable houses that will attract quality tenants.

3.) "Start Small, Profit Big in Real Estate," by Jay P. DeCima (McGraw-Hill, New York), $19.95, 216 pages. The theme of this book is investing in run-down residential groups of rentals, such as five units, which are a management headache for the seller. The author recommends buying properties with fix-up profit potential that most lenders won't finance, thereby forcing the sellers to carry back mortgages on very attractive terms.

4.) "Trump Strategies for Real Estate: Billionaire Lessons for the Small Investor," by George H. Ross (John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ), $24.95, 221 pages. The author has been a successful New York real estate attorney, representing famous investors such as Harry Helmsley, Sam LeFrak, Bill Zeckendorf, and for the last 25 years, Donald Trump. The book is mostly about how Trump became wealthy thanks to his real estate strategies, but the author also shares first-hand insider stories and how he came to realize every problem has a price tag for its solution. This superb book should be required reading for every serious real estate investor.

5.) "Real Estate Dealmaking," by George F. Donohue (Dearborn-Kaplan Publishing Co., Chicago), $19.95, 177 pages. Written by the president of the nation's oldest real estate company (established 1866), this unique book explains winning real estate negotiation strategies for dealing with buyers, sellers, contractors, property managers, lawyers, and brokers. In this book, which cannot be recommended too highly, the author includes personal examples from his many years of worldwide real estate negotiations. He even shares a few of his negotiation mistakes.

6.) "What No One Ever Tells You About Investing in Real Estate," by Robert J. Hill II, Esq. (Dearborn-Kaplan Publishing Co., Chicago), $18.95, 200 pages. This is the most unusual real estate book of 2005 because it is a collection of 112 mini-chapters about real estate investor personal experiences and the valuable lessons to be learned from them. Many of these true stores will make you laugh. Others will make you cry. Compiled by a Nashville real estate attorney and investor, these real-life stories sho