Customer Reviews:
Awesome help with home buying and sales!.......2007-01-06
Vitt's book has been a tremendous help to us with the complicated and emotional process of buying and selling our homes. We knew we wanted to move, but each of us had very different ideas of what the "perfect home" would be like. Our differences sometimes seemed insurmountable. Also, it was often hard to understand why we were looking for certain characteristics in a home, and why we wouldn't compromise. Fond memories of homes that we had loved mixed and collided with current and future needs. For example, one of us wanted a wooded lot on a quiet street above all else; the other didn't care about location but wanted the home to be big enough to meet our need for interior space. We couldn't find a property that suited us both; how could we resolve this potential pitfall? Ms. Vitt gave us a structure for examining our motives and hopes, as well as a way to resolve our differences and find a home we can both love.
Also, the financial aspects of the decision-making process were important, and "10 Secrets" gave us a very clear path for avoiding potential financial disasters.
A home is so important, both emotionally and financially. "10 Secrets" gave us the tools and information we needed to navigate our way to successfully buy a home.
Also, we were so impressed with Vitt's book, that we gave a copy to our realtor, who frequently has to negotiate between couples, as well as between buyers and sellers. A Must-Buy for Realtors, too!
Have given copies to friends who are thinking about moving. Great gift.
Well-written, well-organized, an awesome book!
Yippee!! I made the decision..........2005-01-25
to stay in my house! Having recently gone through a divorce, and somewhat uncomfortable with my neighborhood, which has a very different demographic from mine, I struggled with how I could manage the house on my own, and finance numerous small and large repairs without taking on too much debt.
After taking the quiz, I realized that the financial stability of my house is the most important factor I needed to satisfy. Once I realized that...it was much easier to invest a few thousand dollars to update the furnishings and to make the house more like a home that reflected my personality. I was also able to take on additional debt to make some costly, but necessary repairs, such a new foundation and sewer line. In doing so, I found a way to restructure my entire debt load that allows me one smaller monthly payment, leaving me with a greater monthly cash flow.
I can honestly say that I wouldn't have had the courage to undertake the repairs, and take on the additional debt, if I hadn't read this book. Having a clear insight into my issues surrounding "home" and understanding more clearly my emotional profile, I was able to make my need structure work in my favor, instead of against me. Without this book, I would probably have sold the house at a discount, and made another, equally unsatisfying move.
Housing and Happiness.......2005-01-05
I purchased this book on the advice of a friend. After determining my housing profile I purchased ten additional copies as holiday gifts for colleagues. This book is the first of it's kind and will assist you in understanding how your housing decisions are made and how to make your home a place of happiness and not only financial but emotional security. I found myself highlighting passages as I went along for quick future reference. I would highly recommend this book to anyone - no matter what your living/financial situation.
Housing Decisions.......2004-12-28
At last a book that entertains you while giving solid information. I especially like the way this author uses flesh and blood real people to illustrate her points. I'm halfway through already in one day --maybe I'll write another when I finish it.
A Remarkable Effort.......2004-12-27
I have worked with Dr. Vitt for many years, and I am always amazed when the final product arrives. This book is just one of many of the remarkable things she has written, but this book alone has been the greatest help to me in deciding to refinance my home, an idea I had been toying with for a long time. After rereading it for pleasure and learning, rather than editing, I have learned a great deal more about the dynamics of buying, selling or refinancing my own home, and for this I am grateful to Dr. Vitt. This book should be a great help to anyone who is considering any kind of housing change.
V. Karen McMahon
Book Description
The governance of natural resources used by many individuals in common is an issue of increasing concern to policy analysts. Both state control and privatization of resources have been advocated, but neither the state nor the market have been uniformly successful in solving common pool resource problems. After critiquing the foundations of policy analysis as applied to natural resources, Elinor Ostrom here provides a unique body of empirical data to explore conditions under which common pool resource problems have been satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily solved. Dr. Ostrom first describes three models most frequently used as the foundation for recommending state or market solutions. She then outlines theoretical and empirical alternatives to these models in order to illustrate the diversity of possible solutions. In the following chapters she uses institutional analysis to examine different ways--both successful and unsuccessful--of governing the commons. In contrast to the proposition of the tragedy of the commons argument, common pool problems sometimes are solved by voluntary organizations rather than by a coercive state. Among the cases considered are communal tenure in meadows and forests, irrigation communities and other water rights, and fisheries.
Customer Reviews:
Addressing the Collective Action Problem.......2007-08-02
Ostrom attempts to refute the belief that only through state and or market-centered controls can commonly pooled resources (CPRs) be effectively governed. Ostrom writes, "Communities of individuals have relied on institutions resembling neither the state nor the market to govern some resource systems with reasonable degrees of success over long periods of time" (p. 1). Governing the Commons sets out to discover why some groups are able to effectively govern and manage CPRs and other groups fail. She tries to identify both the internal and external factors "that can impede or enhance the capabilities of individuals to use and govern CPRs."
The first section of the book examines both state-controlled and privatization property rights regimes, and illustrates failures in both regimes; namely, that central authorities often fail to have complete accuracy of information, have only limited monitoring capabilities, and possess a weak sanctioning reliability. As such, a centralized governing body may actually govern the commons inaccurately and make a bad situation worse. In the case of privatized property rights regimes, Ostrom illustrates two main points: 1) it assumes that property is homogenous and any division of property will be equitable; and 2) privatization will not work with non-stationary property (fisheries, for example).
After discussing the state-controlled and privatization property rights regimes, Ostrom attempts examine the causes of successful CPR governance, and the catalysts which lead to failure. Being part of the "new institutionalist" school, Ostrom seeks to examine the rules, structures, and frameworks within the various CPR governance structures. Ostrom has discovered a number of "design principles" within the successful CPR governance cases. These principles include: 1) a clear definition of boundaries, 2) monitors who either are appropriators of the resource or accountable to the appropriators, 3) graduated sanctions, 4) mechanisms controlled by the appropriators used to mediate conflict and when necessary, change the rules, 5) a congruence between the rules used and the local conditions.
In other words, Ostrom suggests that these "design principles," form a cooperative institutional structure. If the correct institutions are in place, the players will see cooperation as the best means to gain optimal outcomes. These mechanisms create a confidence between players that defections will be minimal, and those that do defect will be sanctioned accordingly. Additionally, the institutional structures create an environment in which resources are distributed in such a way that all (or at least most) players benefit. As such, many of these institutional structures must be accompanied by a good deal of trust between players. This can only be developed over time and is most likely to succeed when the number of players in the CPR is reasonably small.
One of the most important works in the social science literature published in the last 100 years.......2006-12-30
"Governing the Commons" has become a classic, not only within the literature of political science, but more broadly throughout the social sciences. In the book, Elinor Ostrom argues brilliantly and compelling for a third way of avoiding Garrett Hardin's "tragedy of the commons," in addition to privatization (conversion of the commons to private property) or government regulation (conversion of the commons to public property). Though numerous examples, Ostrom demonstrates how users of common property resources have managed, in various places around the world, to sustainably manage those resources through local, self-regulation. In other words, common property regimes can avoid the "tragedy of the commons."
Ostrom recognizes that common property management regimes do not always work. Indeed, the seem to fail as often as they succeed. To explain why this is the case, and to help predict the likelihood of success or failure, Ostrom develops an elaborate and very useful model of common property success/failure. In the 15 years since she published "Governing the Commons," that model has not been significantly improved by other scholars. Her book remains as current and important today, as it was when she first published it in 1990. It is required reading for all social scientists, indeed anyone, interested in resource conservation and property systems.
conventional theory applied to odd cases.......2002-05-22
Ostroms' book covers a variety of cases where allocational difficulties arise. She employs sound economic reasoning in analyzing a number of cases where ordinary property rights enforcment is difficult. This book illustrates how vital institutional arrangements are in managing natural resources. Self-described environmentalists should read this book to see how many of the problems that concern them can actually get solved. The history in this book is made interesting through the application of economic concepts. This is not light reading, but it surely is interesting- for serious readers.
Amazon.com
Real estate is as much about people as it is about property, and, after location, success in real estate depends upon understanding the motives of those who play the game, because many critical decisions revolve around what real estate people think, how they act and why. The Real Estate Game, by William J. Poorvu and Jeffrey L. Cruikshank, is a clear, comprehensive overview illustrated with real-life experiences about individual investors, small developers, and moguls. Poorvu has developed and managed real estate and taught real estate investing at the Harvard Business School for over 35 years. This book is drawn from his course, and is designed to help investors make the right decisions derived from the right assumptions and to provide an insider's perspective on how to spot risks and develop strategies that provide protection and adequate investment returns.
The book uses the analogy of a game to illustrate some of the intricate and unpredictable interactions in real estate deals, and it lays out the rules of the game, including identification of the key players and periods of play: concept, commitment, development, operation, reward, and reinvestment. Readers are taught to be "value investors," ready to buy at the right price at the right time, because the best opportunities come from buying at a discount-to-replacement cost. The value investor must be prepared to sell at the right juncture, and must not be compelled to be in the game when conditions make the game not worth playing.
The case studies that run through the book show how to evaluate, develop, and operate all kinds of real estate investments from the points of view of all involved in the process. There's an extensive appendix covering the different property types, and the authors' "back-of-the-envelope" method for analyzing the financial implications of a potential deal is probably worth the book's weight in gold. --Scott Harrison
Book Description
The Real Estate Game is a comprehensive guide to successful real estate investment from one of the masters in the field. Drawing upon four decades of experience developing, owning, and managing properties and on almost thirty years of teaching at the Harvard Business School, William J. Poorvu offers an insider's perspective on how to make smart decisions about real estate.
The real estate "game" is played by people, and it's the stories of real people that make Poorvu's introduction to the industry colorful and interesting. The reader meets players ranging from real estate moguls to small-scale developers to individual investors in exotic investment instruments. Their stories evolve throughout the book and illustrate how these people -- with all their complicated needs, talents, and motives -- fit into the larger process and context.
In clear and nontechnical language, Poorvu explains how variables -- players, properties, capital markets, and the external environment -- come together to influence the shape and outcome of a real estate deal. He explains the time frame for different kinds of real estate investments and walks the reader through the key "periods of play" in the real estate game: concept, commitment, development, operation, reward, and reinvestment.
The Real Estate Game introduces a simple but powerful "back-of-the-envelope" technique for analyzing the financial implications of a potential deal. Using this tool and others, Poorvu shows readers how to use direct investments, syndicates, and REITs to get into the real estate game across a broad range of property types: residential, office, hotel, industrial, and retail.
Offering unique insight into the ways that developers and investors can create value, The Real Estate Game is both a perfect introduction for the novice and an invaluable overview for the experienced professional.
Customer Reviews:
Great read for serious investors.......2007-09-01
Mr. Poorvu's book does an excellent job of teaching investors how to analyze real estate deals. It reads a bit like a text book but serious investors will appreciate the intelligence and depth of the content.
Great for deepening understanding of subject..........2007-03-12
I found this book extrememly valuable in deepening my understanding of the subject and providing perspective for me to carry my understanding further on my own by looking at market information and events.
Useful for beginner to intermediate level real estate interested people.
Not a get rich quick scheme.......2006-03-15
William Poorvu teaches at the Harvard Business School and also invests and develops on his own. He uses case studies to show examples of the techniques and rules he uses when investing which is how MBA's are taught. Overall its some great real world advice with no promises of making you a millionaire overnight.
Best of the RE Investment Books!.......2003-12-18
The vast majority of real estate investment books to be found in the Barnes & Noble investment section offer variations of Mark Twain's stock market advice: "making money in stocks is easy. Only buy a stock if it goes up; if it doesn't go up, don't buy it." By contrast, Poorvu walks readers through myriad real estate investment situations, fleshing out the risks and rewards, and the mindsets of the various players. While written in an anecdotal style replete with real-life examples, the book also presents an encyclopedic overview of investment opportunities (direct, REIT, syndicates, etc.) and asset categories (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.). This is a real estate investment book written by an adult, for adults -- in contrast to all the other get-rich-quick-no-money-down titles targeting gullible novices.
A Sophisticated Yet Interesting Real Estate book.......2003-02-10
Harvard Business School Professor and real estate investor William Poorvu has written a book about real estate is far above most real estate books. This book is nowhere near the run of the mill generic real estate book that tries to tell everything about real estate to people who don't have a clue. "The Real Estate Game" is a sophisticated commercial real estate book written by a real estate insider. This is not a book about buying your first house with no down payment.
What this is, is a book about commercial real estate projects from concept, commitment, development, operations, and harvest. The authors bring a behind the scenes and insiders' approach to commercial development. He lays it out in the form of a game with properties, capital markets, players and external environment. One of the stories in the book is that of Bill Zeckendorf's classic assemblage of Swift slaughterhouses into the United Nations property and vicinity. Included in the book is the authors' commercial due diligence checklist. This book would be most interesting to a person involved in commercial real estate, someone interested in commercial real estate or someone interested in the business of commercial real estate. I think that this is the kind of book that you can refer back to time and time again. There is a lot of information in this book and it may even be a book that you will want to read more than once. It has a depth, and quality of information contained far superior to the average mass media real estate book without the dryness of a real estate textbook
Customer Reviews:
Very Hard to understand.......2007-01-08
This book is terrible. It is very hard to understand. Not recommended.
great item .......2005-10-17
what was advertised was exactly what i received. book was in good condition and it was the one i wanted.
thanks alot and would reorder again!!!!!!!1
Book Description
Fiduciary responsibilities and related court-imposed liabilities have forced investors to assess market conditions beyond gut level, resulting in the development of sophisticated decision-making tools. Roger Brown's use of historical real estate data enables him to develop tools for gauging the impact of circumstances on relative risk. His application of higher level statistical modeling to various aspects of real estate makes this book an essential partner in real estate research. Offering tools to enhance decision-making for consumers and researchers in market economies of any country interested in land use and real estate investment, his book will improve real estate market efficiency. With property the world's biggest asset class, timely data on housing prices just got easier to find and use.
*Excellent mixture of theory and application
*Data and database analysis techniques are the first of their kind
*CDROM contains pre-written code for data analysis tailored specifically to real estate settings
Download Description
One long-time problem for investors in residential real estate has been calculating risk. While commercial real estate investors have had access to broad and deep sets of transaction data, those interested in residential buildings have not. The recent availability of private real estate investment data has made possible new empirical risk analysis tools and conclusions. This is the first book to offer a highly mathematical approach to calculating the risks associated with real estate transactions. By means of data sets and intuitive models, Roger Brown shows readers how to frame real estate problems from mathematical and financial perspectives, with exciting and useful results. Non-US readers will find the book valuable because its conclusions are relevant and useful in other markets, and its techniques can be applied to existing data.
Customer Reviews:
An Elegant Introduction to Real Estate.......2006-03-01
I work as an analyst at a small real estate development and finance firm, and I am always on the lookout for good texts. As a person with a mathematics background, I hate how most real estate books go to great lengths to avoid "hard math". In the end, many of these so-called "advanced" texts leave out important parts, or end up trying to reduce mathematical relationships to mere words. In so doing, they make what should be simple ideas into an impenetrable mess.
Roger Brown's book nicely sidesteps this problem, and immediately gets into non-trivial ideas that one would be hard-pressed to find in a standard textbook. Typical of this is his Chapter 3, "The Rules of Thumb". Instead of simply defining terms such as "cap rate," and maybe discussing some of the limitations of this tool, Brown brings up the real world: cap rates can easily be distorted, and it is your job as an analyst to determine if the cap rate you are using is an "honest one". Brown shows just how one can systematically do this using a corpus of transaction data, which can be found on sites such as costar.com.
There are numerous other innovative ideas in the book. My feeling is that if you have good access to data, and are smart and diligent, you could make a lot of money using some of these ideas .
Book Description
Behavioral Corporate Finance identifies the key psychological obstacles to value maximizing behavior, along with steps that managers can take to mitigate the effects of these obstacles. The main goal of the book is to help students learn how to put the traditional tools of corporate finance to their best use, and mitigate the effects of psychological obstacles that reduce value.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book.......2006-04-20
This book is very informative and easy to read. It is written in a way that won't bore you at all. I have tried to read several books about behavioral finance but I found out they're either too long or boring which made me lose interest in the first chapter. Though, with this book, it didn't happen as it is well-written and very interesting. The examples, given to illustrate the points were quite interesting and simple to understand. I very much enjoyed reading about behavioral finance and the biases that managers, investors and financial analysts have when making their decisions. The book is divided into 11 chapters. I highly recommend this books for people who want to know more about behavioral finance.
1. Behavioral Foundations
2. Valuation
3. Capital Budgeting
4. Perceptions about Risk & Return.
5. Inefficient Markets and Corporate Decisions
6. Capital Structure
7. Dividend Policy
8. Agency Conflicts and Corporate Governance
9. Group Process
10. Mergers & Acquisitions
11. Applications of Real-option techniques to Capital Budgeting and Capital Structure(only available at the book's site)
Book Description
A new edition of the best-seller, revised to reflect tax law changes, including the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Covers all aspects of real estate investment, from basic theoretical concepts to the practicalities of portfolio management. Emphasis is on analysis and management of investment risk and return. Comprehensive coverage includes such topics as property selection, ownership responsibility, marketing, and negotiation. Contains a continuing case (revised for this edition) that builds in complexity throughout the text.
Customer Reviews:
Comprehensive, Well Organized, Well Researched.......1999-01-28
As a real estate investor I often refer to this book when I am in need help making a decision. It is the next best thing to having a seasoned partner who has been through many market cycles. As a Licensed Commercial Real Estate Appraiser and Broker I am impressed with the material as well as how it is presented. While lifetime of practical knoweledge is somehow reduced to a single 900 page plus book, it is not "dumbed down" for mass appeal purposes. Although I was introduced to this book through a course at Boston University I found it's format more interesting than academic.When investing your money in real estate it is better to read a book like this and learn than, to "just do it" and learn the hard way, believe me. This book is a keeper for your professional library.
Product Description
Thoroughly updated to include the latest information, this practical guide covers best practices for planning, organizing, and financing BIDs; the services they provide; and how they are operated and managed. A leading expert, the author provides his insight on the methods successful BIDs have used to increase property values and profitability, and to generate tax revenue. The new edition also covers challenges and opportunities encountered as BIDs mature, and information on BID-like organizations outside of the United States.
Average customer rating:
|
The Lease/Buy Decision, a Simplified Guide to Maximizing Financial and Tax Advantages in the 1980's
Pieter T. Elgers
Manufacturer: Free Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Corporate Finance
| Finance
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Real Estate
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
| Business Ethics
| Consolidation & Merger
| Decision-Making & Problem Solving
| Distribution & Warehouse Management
| Industrial
| Information Management
| Leadership
| Management
| Management Science
| Motivational
| Negotiating
| Operations Research
| Planning & Forecasting
| Pricing
| Production & Operations
| Project Management
| Quality Control
| Risk Assessment
| Statistics
| Strategy & Competition
| Systems & Planning
| Systems Analysis
| Teams
| Total Quality Management
| Training
ASIN: 0029094704 |
Average customer rating:
|
Value and Risk Management: A Guide to Best Practice
Michael F. Dallas
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Real Estate
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Decision-Making & Problem Solving
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Project Management
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Building Construction
| Construction
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Management
| Construction
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Managing Risk: In Construction Projects
-
Design and Construction (Building Value)
-
The Fundamentals of Risk Measurement
ASIN: 140512069X |
Book Description
Published on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Building and endorsed by a range of construction industry institutes, this book explains the underlying concepts of value and risk, and how they relate to one another. It describes the different issues to be addressed in a variety of circumstances and at all stages of a project's life and reviews a number of commonly used and effective techniques, showing how these may be adapted to suit individuals' styles and circumstances.
Books:
- 21 Things I Wish My Broker Had Told Me: Practical Advice for New Real Estate Professionals.
- Africa in Chaos: A Comparative History
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- Casa y Comunidad: Latino Home and Neighborhood Design
- China Shakes the World: A Titan's Rise and Troubled Future -- and the Challenge for America
- CLARK SMART REAL ESTATE: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BUYING AND SELLING REAL ESTATE
- Covered Calls and LEAPS--A Wealth Option + DVD: A Guide for Generating Extraordinary Monthly Income (Wiley Trading)
- Crafting and Executing Strategy : The Quest for Competitive Advantage - Concepts and Cases (Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases)
- de Kooning: An American Master
- eBay Income: How Anyone of Any Age, Location, and/or Background Can Build a Highly Profitable Online Business with eBay
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Inventory Accuracy: People, Processes, & Technology
- Antiques from the Garden
- Lecciones de Microeconomia
- Seed Leaf Flower Fruit
- The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
- A House Is Not a Home: A B-Boy Blues Novel
- Tops & Bottoms
- My Boys Can Swim!: The Official Guy's Guide to Pregnancy
- Ready Notes Volume 2 Chapters 15 to 24 for use with Accounting: The Basis for Business Decisions
- The Place of the Swan
1001 Tips for Buying & Selling a Home
The Home Buyer's Question and Answer Book
100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask: With Answers from Top Brokers from Around the Country (100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask)
Tips and Traps When Selling a Home
Home Closing Checklist
