Real Estate Investment (5th Edition)

Author: John P. Widmer (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: This book has the following distinct characteristics:
It elaborates on real estate investment from three aspects: finance, economics, and law;
It analyzes the real estate market from the perspectives of the government and companies, rather than from an individual perspective;
It provides a detailed explanation of the tax system and income tax laws for the U.S. real estate market;
It systematically introduces the legal professional system of the U.S. real estate market;
It clearly explains the financial analysis methods and indicators required for real estate investment;
It also introduces some environmental knowledge related to the real estate investment market.
This book is suitable for the following readers:
Faculty and students of real estate majors in universities;
Professionals in the fields of investment economics and finance;
Real estate investment companies;
Real estate market researchers, analysts, and marketing planners;
Professional training institutions (e.g., real estate programs in MBA or EBA);
Government departments related to real estate (e.g., tax authorities or appraisal agencies).
In the author's other work, the term "investor" refers to an individual or company that purchases or invests in mortgage loans and attempts to earn returns from the interest received. In this book, the term "investor" refers to a person or company that acquires assets with the goal of appreciation. Other terms used for similar definitions include: equity holder, buyer, landlord, developer, builder, originator, or partner.
Although this book only has one chapter dedicated to financing for real estate investment, this does not mean its importance can be overlooked. Some books conflate investment and financing, but the author believes that financing and investment are two distinct topics, each worthy of in-depth study. The difference between the two lies in the content covered in the financing section, which includes sources of mortgage funds, legal restrictions on funds from different sources, conditions for obtaining mortgages, the increasingly important secondary mortgage market, and the federal agencies that guarantee nearly half of all mortgages. Correspondingly, investment focuses on analyzing risks and the output of a specific property—how to best determine an investor's rate of return or profit. Of course, when financing affects the rate of return on investment, the analysis of financing is also part of the investment analysis.