YOUR NAR: Book series
BY BARBARA BALLINGER
Investmentsmarts
Dolf de Roos isn’t the type of real estate investor to keep all the riches to himself. Rather, de Roos, who owns hundreds of investment properties, prefers to share his success tips and encourage others to invest.
In his latest book Real Estate Riches: How to Become Rich Using Your Banker’s Money (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2005), he shares his best tips from the past 31 years, walking both new and seasoned investors through the investment process. It’s the first book in an NAR-recommended series of products that focus on real estate investment; the REALTOR® logo appears on the
book’s cover.
“One of NAR’s goals has been to develop publications designed for consumers that promote the benefits of owning real estate and of working with REALTORS® to accomplish that dream,” says Bob Goldberg, NAR’s senior vice president of marketing and business development. “The expertise and recognition that Dolf brings to the relationship has helped us take a major step toward that goal.”
Subsequent printings of the book will include a foreword addressing the importance of using a
REALTOR®. Investors should work with REALTORS®, de Roos says, because they’re privy to the best listings. Other advantages he touts: They’re bound by a strict Code of Ethics, know industry terminology, and can filter out poor investments. De Roos encourages salespeople to invest, too.
De Roos, who grew up in New Zealand but lives in Phoenix, is gung-ho on real estate because “you can still find good bargain properties, buy them using mostly other people’s money, and obtain returns of 30 percent to 100 percent.”
But you need to do your homework, he stresses. First assignment: Know the best markets. “Don’t buy in a community where the biggest employer—a steel refinery or nuclear power plant—is shutting down.”
He pegs Phoenix and Las Vegas as being two strong markets. He bought 52 properties in Las Vegas for investment last year with help from practitioners. His goal was to buy one investment property a week, but he finished his challenge within nine-and-a-half months, he says.
Second, he says, be prepared to look at many properties before investing. “You may have to look at 100, put offers in on 10, and try to finance three to end up with just one,” he says.
Third, hang on to most investments since prices typically appreciate, especially if you’ve made smart improvements, he says. But be ready to unload poorly performing investments, he advises.
How did a Ph.D. in electrical engineering lead de Roos to real estate? His passion began when as a teen he recognized that the wealthiest people around him made their money or held their wealth in real estate, he says. At 17, with a $3,000 downpayment, he bought a $97,000 two-flat.
Today he focuses on industrial and commercial investments but advises novices to start with residential ones. “It’s easier to learn what makes a good home rather than what makes a good factory,” he says.
To buy his book (Item #141-75), access NAR’s online store at REALTOR.org/storeor call 800/874-6500. To learn more about de Roos, visit his Web site, www.dolfderoos.com.
Leading housing indicator set
Government agencies, analysts, and real estate professionals will get a glimpse of how well existing-home sales are faring—before current deals close—in a Pending Home Sales Index NAR is launching. The idea for creating the index was hatched two years ago in a meeting between NAR and the Federal Reserve Board. Discussions focused on approaches to get a more current read on housing activity.
The index will be based on signed real estate contracts and will provide a more up-to-date read of the housing market than any indicator available, says NAR Chief Economist David Lereah. Until now, the industry’s benchmark has been existing-home sales, a historic reporting of closed sales.
A pending sales indicator will help economists forecast changes in the overall economy. “Government agencies, analysts, and traders on Wall Street will quickly come to understand the value of this index,” Lereah says.
The launch date is March 7, 2005. Initially, the index will report a projection for national existing-home sales. As the modeling is enhanced over time, regional projections could become available, NAR says. For more information, visit REALTOR.org/research.
—Robert Freedman
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
For information on discounts available to NAR members through the REALTOR® VIP Alliance Program, visit REALTOR.org/realtorVIP.
