Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing: The Blueprint To Quitting Your Job With Real Estate - Even Without Experience Or Cash

Like many people, I have been interested in real estate investing for a long time but started with 1-4 unit (aka single-family) properties because they seemed “touchable.” I wanted to buy apartment buildings, but they just seemed too big, I didn’t have the money, knowledge, or experience to do THAT. After years of trudging, I realized I just wasn’t making progress fast enough with single-family properties to reach my financial freedom goals in this lifetime. I decided to step back and reassess my plan. In so doing, I came to the conclusion that the only way to reach my goals was with apartment buildings. I didn’t know how I was going to do that, but I had to find a way. Enter Michael Blank. I discovered him on the BiggerPockets forum and began consuming his articles and podcasts. I wish I had been introduced to this information years ago!! Since then I have become one of his students, and purchased several of his courses. The information is fantastic, well rounded, and detailed. When I discovered Michael was writing this book, I was excited to read it, and it did not disappoint. In it he covers many key aspects of apartment building investing, the ones that most of us probably feel are preventing us from succeeding, or even trying to invest in this real estate category. He starts with his personal story (it is nice to hear that others have faced adversity and still succeeded). Then he covers what is necessary to do your first deal, how to raise the money you need by developing an investor network (one of the key differences between single-family properties and multifamily (5+ unit) properties is that it is much easier to get investor capital for multifamily). The best way to find deals, how to analyze deals, and how to get past your personal limiting beliefs with what he calls the Vision Map. Then he outlines how to take your vision, and use it to create “bite-sized” steps to accomplish each day so you can reach your larger goal. Looking out 6-12 months makes most of us freeze in overwhelm, and his process helps overcome this. Then in the final section he covers the details of deal negotiation, performing due diligence, closing escrow, and managing the property. There are just too many components to write about, but all of it is well written and extremely informative. This is a must read if you are even considering real estate investing. I wish I had this book available years ago when I started in single-family. I would have saved countless hours, been much more successful, and by now accomplished my goal.

Michael’s approach to multi family is sensible and easy to digest. Is it a crash course on analytics, ratio analysis and how to become a financial maven in real estate?...no. That takes work and practice. As Michael reiterated throughout the book -the key is getting your first deal done. I’ve been in the commercial real estate business for 25 years and what this book delivers is how to think about the many soft skills that helps you to build you confidence in approaching multi family real estate investing. It outlines the important steps and it gives you great tips on what to do and not to do. It is also accompanied by his companion course that does go into a lot of detail without spending the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars that many programs charge. Almost every chapter has a reference to his online videos and samples of the things you need to know and the tools to use. If you take the time to really check out Michael Blank, you will see he has interviewed hundreds of people on his podcasts on a weekly basis from all 4 corners of the multi family real estate world. Lenders, brokers, other gurus, investors, tax experts, contractors and everyday people who have made investing in multi family their livelihood. You can’t go wrong with this book. Anyone who thinks it’s a waste of time and money has missed the point of this book. We all want to connect with someone just like us, who have the same dreams, ambitions, and fears. Michael introduces you to the why and how without being boring or overselling. I highly recommend it.

As an avid listener to the Apartment Building Investing podcast and a fellow podcaster and Apartment Building investor myself, I can unequivocally say that I learnt a ton from this book. First, I really loved the succinctness of this book. Many of the real estate books try to jam all strategies and/or tactics into a one book, an approach with its own merits. However, many readers will end up dropping the book before finishing it. With this book, I was able to read it relatively quickly and kept going back to information and tips that were frankly one of the best in the industry. Secondly, I read another review below saying the book did not go in-depth with Cap Rates and IRRs. Obviously, this reader either did not sign up for the FREE Companion course that came with the book or this reader has never listened to one single episode of Michael’s podcast or used his amazing SDA tool to analyze and make offers on deals. I’m certain that this reader has done neither. Moreover, definitions for Cap Rates and IRRs are at your finger tips using Google. More importantly, when I talk to everyday people who are looking to invest, they don’t know or care about IRRs, but they usually want to know how much am I making or when am I going to get my money back. Lastly, one of my favorite tips in the book is scripts. Now, you might think what?!!! Yes, scripts are everything from how to talk to brokers and how to ace your first investor meetings. Not sure if it was Tony Robbins who said “the quality of the communication determines the success of your life”. The scripts in this book are simple but effective. I used some already this past weeks and it just works! As an experienced real estate investor and syndicator, I was shocked so many new things! What an amazing book! To conclude, if you are thinking of starting your journey in the game buy this book and follow the steps, don’t cut corners. Good luck!

This book is very informative and easy to read. Has so many ideas for you to get started. What I liked the most about the book for me, is it confirmed that I am not interested in investing into apartment buildings. But I’m more of a duplex investor. I wouldn’t have known that without reading this book. I’ll use key tools from this book building my portfolio.

Read it obsess over it you won’t regret. Let this be a manual it won’t be easy but it will sure be worth it.

A good read.

Good to start. Clear. The path is set.

Very clear and to the point. I enjoyed the book and gives away lots of information. I recommend it to someone interested in investing in multi units.

I would like to thank the author for sharing such a detailed step by step roadmap/blueprint which gives me the confidence to get started... much appreciated!