Real estate investing has become popular today due to television real estate investing infomercials and traveling seminar circuits. But real estate investing has not always been so popular.
In the 1960s, William Nickerson wrote: “How I turned $ 1000 into three million in real estate” and “How to make a fortune today from scratch.” It was one of the first real estate investment books to gain national attention. A little later, Al Lowry wrote “How You Can Be Financially Independent By Investing In Real Estate.” Al Lowry could be called “the father of real estate seminars today” because he was the first to hold seminars as a result of the sale of his books.
But it was Mark Haroldsen who took the momentum of the real estate investment seminar / book to the next level. Haroldsen wrote: “How to awaken the financial genius within you.” If you were tuned in to real estate investing at the time, you remember the newspaper and magazine ad that featured an image of Mark soft and bald leaning against the front hood of his Mercedes. The image appeared everywhere in full-page ads from major publications. And when Mark started selling his books, he began conducting real estate investment seminars. I had lunch with Mark and Al Lowry as they exchanged stories about the hype blitz that brought them to national prominence for their prowess in real estate investing. Later, Mark wrote “The Courage to Be Rich” and “Tax Free”.
But it was Robert Allen who capitalized on Lowry and Haroldsen’s previous groundwork. Robert Allen was reportedly paid $ 1 million upfront royalties for his best-selling book, “Nothing Down,” a compilation of 50 techniques for buying property with no money. Robert had learned these techniques from several years of experience in a commercial real estate company. He later wrote “Wealth Creation” and “Introduction to Real Estate Investing.” Robert Allen’s real estate investment seminars turned into a phenomenal marketing bonanza. The conventions were held in major cities in the country, such as Orlando, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, and Atlanta. Authors of various real estate investment techniques spoke at these seminars, but their spiel focused on selling packages of real estate investment materials that they were offering for sale. Millions of dollars in real estate investment materials were sold at these 3-day conventions. The convention frenzy ushered in what has since been known as “The Nothing Real Estate Movement” of the early to mid-1980s.
I keep all of these books in my personal library, and you can probably still find them in your public library and bookstores. There is a lot of great information in these books that can make you very knowledgeable, even if some of the ideas are out of date.
Now we are presented with a variety of ways to make money in real estate by investing in television infomercials, books, and seminars. Which is the best? Who can say? Real estate investing is learned through trial and error. Real estate investing skills and techniques are acquired with practice. I don’t think anyone can dogmatically recommend a technique that is better for someone else. Each real estate investor has unique needs and is in a unique situation. The objectives of real estate investment are different.
However, if you are limited in investing in real estate educational dollars and need to generate a quick return on investment, I think fixing cheap houses is an ideal starting point. Real estate investing in renovated properties generates fast, profitable dollars with low risk.