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 enlarge | Author: Monica Villasenor
Publisher: Villasenor Productions, LLC
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $18.74
You Save: $11.21 (37%)
New (17) Used (10) from $15.39
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 136104
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 340
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 0979364604
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.6324
EAN: 9780979364600
ASIN: 0979364604
Publication Date: April 15, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Do not waste your time April 30, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I have never written a review on Amazon yet but I feel pretty strongly about this. This book is a waste of time and money and that is the bottom line. This thing is a disaster from start to finish.
First off, a 3rd grader could write a book with fewer typos than this book has. It was utterly annoying everytime I ran across one........which happened numerous times per chapter and even per paragraph sometimes. How can someone release an informational book that is supposed to teach and guide people on a particular subject when the author comes across as a dummy who doesn't know how to write or even use spell check??
Secondly and most importantly was the quality of the actual content. It's rather poor. This book doesn't talk about commercial real estate. It talks mainly about the seemingly one deal the author has done which is this condo conversion that gets mentioned time and time again. It's more of a low quality biography of the authors 3 years of experience. I was hoping to get new ideas and different approaches to what I'm already practicing in the commercial real estate business myself. This didn't happen at all. I purchased this book based on the title "The Best Damn Commercial Real Estate Investing Book Ever Written" which sounds like it may be good, but turned out to be a big mistake on my part because it simply is not even close to being the best. There is just so much more to commercial real estate, being in that field myself, than what is talked about in this book.
I could go on and on about what I didn't like about this book, but I hope this is enough to warn others that there are several other quality books available that will educate you properly on the subject of commercial real estate investing, unfortunately this book is not one of them.
 Best Damn . . . NOT HARDLY April 12, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
The book was interesting, but had little in depth information. She wrote of how she took an apartment building condo, but focused mostly on how she smoozed the city commission rather than explaining the steps or pitfalls.
You can discern her personal drive, and that can carry a real estate investor a long way. I call it "3 yards and a cloud of dust." Sometimes you just have to push ahead regardless of the problems. Been there, done it, got the T shirt.
I think a little more concering the differences between residential and commercial real estate would have better served the reader. There is so much more to commercial real estate than contained in this book. Add it to your list, but don't buy it first, unless you have extra money to spend.
 If it were possible to rate '0' ~beware including seminars! April 10, 2008
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
This is my second posting as the first somehow 'magically' disappeared. I have even been in touch w/ the author as a gesture of good faith from someone working in the commercial real estate industry for years. She is now pushing her seminars and offered a discount on now-cancelled classes but declined to approach any practical lending discussions. She trashes several brokers in the book, provides little if any realistic advice nor categorizations of the types of financings, particularly insurance and pension fund lenders which are the most solid in the business. It may be she is collecting monies for investments in properties without a license to do so as solid lenders require 20-30% down sourcing and seasoning the down payments. (Gee, how did we get into a lending crisis for residential ~ sorry but that doesn't play w/ commercial but don't get me started...)
Spend your time elsewhere. The book covers deals that were not completed. It is almost entirely based on two or three transactions which were completed during the height of the R.E. Boom. Neither can one find her supposed television show. It further turns out her condo project is not yet completed though she treats it as a huge success in this book. (No condo financing is happening right now and has turned back to apartment/multi-family).
If you are an absolute novice, you may learn something in this self-published, agrandizing book. Otherwise, move on and search for the Robert A. Morse guide to commercial real estate investments (quicker read) or practically ANY other book on commercial investing. In all my years of commercial real estate I've never bumped into anyone who has made legitimate money starting from an 'expert' seminar. Stay away from those attempting to parlay a new speaking career particularly similar to this author who has little practical experience!
A Self Published Disaster April 3, 2008
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
I've never written an Amazon review before this one. This was such a waste of money that I had to warn others.
As I understand it, the author made money in Las Vegas on her residence, land and some single families, and then decided to get into commercial real estate. She bought a 57 unit property in Ohio and a 24 unit in California that she used for a condo conversion .
One reason I bought this book was for the It's All About The Numbers chapter. The best paragraph in this chapter suggests you read What Every Real Estate Investor Needs To Know About Cash Flow..... by Frank Gallinelli.
With the 57 unit purchase she notes that she didn't carefully read the mortgage documents before signing and so had a a four year lock out on her first mortgage with a second mortgage with a balloon payment due in three years.
Some quotes: "While I don't personally own any retail buildings, I was in contract to purchase one." I don't want to spend too much time discussing land development, as my experience is limited." "...[The property manager she employed] once hired a painting contractor to paint one of the vacant units, at a cost of $2000. I almost passed out! In Ohio, I can get the interior of a comparable sized unit painted for $500."
In the chapter on protecting your assets she talks about buying property in your own name and then deeding the property to a corporate entity after you close. Isn't this going to make the mortgage due in full?
Did I mention this book is self published?
No index.
 NO CANDY COATING HERE March 27, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm still in the education process of my real estate career, so obviously I can't give a "seasoned veteran" perspective.
One thing i appreciate about Monica is she makes no qualms concerning the fact that you need to have some residential investing experience at the bare minimum before embarking on a commercial real estate career. I must say, my curiosity got the best of me and I read it anyway. It was a good read. No candy coating here! She lays it all out there, from financing issues to communicating with the city on zoning to dealing with a spouse who may not have the same perspective on investing as you do. As with any worthwhile endeavor you have no idea what you are dealing with until you get your hands dirty, get a splinter or two and mash a fingernail, but this book seems to give and accurate preview of what is in store for anyone who chooses to persue commercial real estate so they can have their ducks in a row. One thing I really appreciated was the fact that she laid out what kind of time frame you should expect when investing in commercial real estate. When dealing with residential you ideally want to deal on a days and weeks time frame, however with commercial go in expecting to deal on months time frame. The days of "get rich quick" in real estate are over. "Get rich smart and stay rich" is the new trend and this book definitely adheres to this philosophy. Something else that I see the more I study the latest real estate philosophies is how important it is to have a good team of professionals working with you. Monica also endorses this philosophy and gives excellent advice on how to make your selections.
I appreciate someone willing to say "yeah, I screwed up!" then laying out what they did and how they fixed it.
I highly recommend this book, but make no mistake that this lady means business.
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