Real Estate Principles (10th edition)

By Charles J. Jacobus. Thomson South-Western Publishers. Mason, OH. $82.95.

While still on active duty with the Air Force and nearing retirement, I enrolled in a real estate principles course at a local community college to get a preview of my upcoming second career. The course was taught by a real estate broker and our basic text was a previous edition of this book. That was a couple of decades ago and the book is now in its tenth edition. I have the same reaction now that I had then. It’s well organized, informative, and written in a style that’s actually interesting and easy to comprehend. That’s definitely not always the case with basic text books, real estate included.

The author, Texan Charles Jacobus, has a distinguished background as an attorney, author, and real estate educator. He is active in the Real Estate Educators’Association (REEA). As a long time member myself, I’ve attended several of the national conventions. A highlight is always the Chuck Jacobus annual law update. It’s a summary of the previous year’s most important real estate related legal cases. Incidentally, if you’re a real estate educator looking for a great professional organization with which to affiliate, check out REEA at www.reea.org.

This is a summary of the book’s contents:
• Introduction to Real Estate;
• Nature and Description of Real Estate;
• Rights and Interests in Land;
• Forms of Ownership;
• Transferring Title;
• Recordation, Abstracts, and Title Insurance;
• Contract Law;
• Real Estate Sales Contracts;
• Mortgage and Notes;
• Deed of Trust;
• Lending Practices;
• The Loan and the Consumer;
• Sources of Financing;
• Types of Financing;
• Taxes and Assessments;
• Title Closing and Escrow;
• Real Estate Leases;
• Real Estate Appraisal;
• Licensing Laws and ProfessionalAffiliation;
• The Principal-Broker Relationship —Employment;
• The Principal-Broker Relationship —Agency;
• Fair Housing, ADA, Equal Credit, and Community Reinvestment;
• Condominiums, Cooperatives, PUD’s, and Timeshares;
• Property Insurance;
• Land-Use Control;
• Real Estate and the Economy; and
• Investing in Real Estate.

My reaction as I reviewed the table of contents was that the book might be more accurately titled: “Real Estate 101”, for it covers a great deal more than is generally considered to be Real Estate Principles. For example, I teach real estate licensing at an Oregon community college. Oregon recently increased the pre license educational hour requirement from 90 to 150. The mandatory subjects are: Real Estate Practice, Real Estate Law, Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Contracts, Property Management, Real Estate Agency, Real Estate Brokerage, and Property Management. As you can see, this book covers each of these topics.

Whether you’re considering the book as a possible basic text for a real estate course or simply as a valuable addition to your brokerage reference library, I highly recommend this latest version of what has become an Reviews for Web-July 1 6/29/08, 7:26 PM industry stalwart. The best price I found for the book was on the publisher’s web site at www. realestate.swlearning.com. You can also request a review copy through that web site if you’re an educator considering a possible course adoption. As is the case with most basic texts, there’s an abundance of ancillary educational products available

By Nora Olmos and Charles J. Jacobus. Thomson South-Western Publishers. Mason, OH. $19.95. www.realestate.swlearning.com

The real estate profession attracts a diverse group of potential agents. Recently, as I was teaching my pre license class at an Oregon community college, I noticed one of my students continually thumbing through a small book as I was talking. He is Hispanic and the book he was using was this English-Spanish dictionary. The particular topic was real estate finance, and we were discussing basic terminology. When I talked about such terms as “alienation”, “assumption”, and “loan to value ratio” he would check out the basic definitions in Spanish and compare it to the definitions contained in our class text book.

You will note that one of the co-authors is Charles Jacobus, the author of “Real Estate Principals”, which we reviewed above. The other is Nora Olmas, who has a bachelor’s degree from a Mexican university and a master’s from one in the U.S. She has experience both as a real estate broker and a mortgage broker, as well as a real estate educator.

Demographic statistics clearly show the increasing impact of the Hispanic culture on the real estate profession in the U.S. One of the most informative resources I’ve found on the subject is the web site of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals — www.nahrep.org. As you will see when you visit their web site, their mission is: “To increase the Hispanic home ownership rate by empowering real estate professionals who serve Hispanic consumers.”

Note that it does not say you must be Hispanic to serve Hispanic consumers. But the more in tune you may be with cultural values and the more comfortable you are with linguistic challenges, the more likely that you will be able to respond effectively. I’m predicting that as time passes we will see more and more real estate publications such as this one.

Profit From Your Vacation Home Dream — The Complete Guide to A Savvy Financial and Emotional Investment

By Christine Karpinski. Dearborn Publishers. Chicago, IL. $19.95.

If, as a consumer, you’ve ever purchased or considered purchasing a vacation home, you are well aware that there’s a whole lot to know about the entire process. While this book is written for the vacation home buying public, it’s an extremely valuable resource for the real estate professional who may be considering entering that niche, or who is involved in occasional transactions.

Author Karpinski’s stated objectives in the book are to provide the reader the answers to these vacation-home related questions: “where to search for vacation properties; what type of investment property is right for you; how to find a good real estate agent; how to finance your second home; and what are good strategies for managing your vacation rental property and the people who help you maintain it.”

These chapter headings give you an overview of how Karpinski gets her message across:
• Where to Begin?;
• Types of Vacation Homes to Consider;
• Finding a Real Estate Professional;
• Reviewing Your Financial Options;
• Negotiating an Offer and Closing (from Afar);
• Homes, Inspections and Insurance;
• How to Rent by Owner;
• Working with a Property Management Company;
• Advertising Your Rental Property;
• Buying and Holding Your Vacation Home;
• Maintaining Your Property (from Afar); and
• Being a Good Neighbor (from Afar).

If I were working with a client who expressed an interest in a vacation home, one of my first recommendations would be for them to make certain they understand the income tax and other financial implications of vacation home ownership. This book does a good job of outlining the basics and gives some excellent references for further study, but I would strongly recommend a personal visit with an accountant versed in these matters.

I’m certain that the chapter that will be of the most immediate interest to real estate professionals is the one I spent the most time with —“Finding A Real Estate Professional.” It’s clear from the coverage that the author has been through the vacation home-buying process herself and that she is extremely well versed on how real estate professionals operate. If you would like a quick preview, log on to Amazon.com, type “Finding A Real Estate Professional” in the “search inside” feature and you’ll get a good feel for the total coverage. Incidentally, Amazon.com had the best price for the book I could find when I did my research.

This is Karpinski’s second book. The first was a very successful effort, “How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner.” You can get a good overview of that one, and the author’s background, current activities, and related products by visiting www.HowToRentByOwner.com.

Reading this book brought back some very unpleasant memories for me. The worst real estate investment I never made was not buying a modest little vacation home on Lake Tahoe’s north shore that my wife and I considered in the late 1960’s. The house was very modest, but it was on a lot with a fantastic view of the lake.

We actually made an offer that (Book Reviews, cont.) was accepted, but since we lived about 200 miles away in the San Francisco area we decided it would be impractical and backed off. Fifteen years later we visited the site and observed in awe the approximately one million dollar mansion now perched proudly on that modest little lot. Maybe if I had read a book like this ...

Basic Business Management — A Guide for Small-Volume Home Builders

By Dorn Fowler. Home Builder Press (National Association of Home Builders). Washington, D.C. $35.

When I started my real estate career I was very fortunate in that the real estate company with which I affiliated was also a large-volume home builder, and the broker in charge was also the hands-on owner/operator of the home building operation. Not only did it provide a great source of buyer leads, but it was also an exceptional educational opportunity.

Part of our initial and ongoing training in the company consisted of real world visits to construction sites to learn about the home building process from the ground up — literally. I also established contact with two young home builders who worked as a team. They built one home at a time and I marketed it for them. They were great home builders, but they sometimes let their emotions rule their decisions. They both eventually went into other professions, and each has done well.

When I reviewed this book published by the National Association of Home Builders it occurred to me that both the big time builder and the small time builder could profit from the content. Author Dorn Fowler has 20 years experience in building custom and semi-custom homes. In addition he has an academic background which includes a bachelor’s degree in construction management, a master’s degree in business administration, and a doctorate in business management. Fairly impressive credentials to write a book on home building.

These are the major sections:
• Management Activities and Strategic Planning;
• Marketing and Sales;
• Legal Documents and Regulations;
• Estimating and Scheduling;
• Human Resources;
• Accounting;
• Financing; and
• Customer Service and Warranties.

Something that I’ve never been able to fully comprehend is that in real estate license training courses there is essentially no coverage of the product in which the agent will be dealing — the home. Whether the knowledge is gained by practical experience or formal training, it’s obvious that the more one knows about the product the better prepared they will be to deal with the client. If you’re looking for self help references, visit the resource link to the National Association of Home Builders, www.builderbooks.com. There is an incredible array of home building products, useful not only for the home builder, but also the real estate professional seeking additional education.

Ken Edwards

REAL ESTATE’S BEST SELLERS
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4. Be A Real Estate Millionaire: Secret Strategies for Lifetime Wealth Today. Graziose. Vanguard Press. $16.47
5. What Every Real Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow. Gallinelli. McGraw-Hill.$13.57
6. Investing In Real Estate. McLean & Eldred. Wiley. $13.57
7. Confessions of a Real Estate Entrepreneur: What It Takes to Win In High Stakes Commercial Real Estate. Randel. McGraw-Hill. $14.95.
8. Commercial Real Estate Investing for Dummies. Conti & Harris. Wiley. $14.95
9. Success As a Real Estate Agent For Dummies. Zeller. Wiley. $14.95
10. Real Estate Finance & Investments. Brueggeman and Fisher. McGraw-Hill. $151.25