. . .This 12-lesson mini course will help you decide, by explaining the numerous risks, excitements, stressors and many of the critical tax issues involved, well beyond what is presented on the TV real estate shows or the famous $700 weekend seminars. The instructor, previously licensed as a CPA while doing M&A work, has owned & managed properties for over 25 years, mostly in the US, while working in the US, Canada and Europe as a PhD economist. He started life as a very popular junior econ prof at several liberal arts colleges in Ohio.

If you do invest in real estate, this course will likely save you many years of rookie mistakes – and perhaps your marriage. The material here covers many practical topics in this field, including: how to select a controlling position, what to fix, how to manage the properties you decide to keep, critical tax and finance aspects, how to realistically value income properties, and how to eventually get out of your property investments with minimal tax exposure.

This is not a costly weekend hotel seminar on how to buy 12 properties in 90 days. It might be the opposite. There are no calculus or finance prerequisites, although we do get into technical details sometimes beyond what many real estate brokers might know, especially in the tax and risk management areas, as suggested in the syllabus below, and the menu item "certificate" on this home page.


Although aimed at women and men with substantial life experience, this course is also relevant for sometimes overly-confident young professionals, who might be considering property as a sideline investment. Real estate specialists, such as brokers, escrow agents, inspectors, etc, might also benefit. And since it provides an engaging exposure to very practical business realities, it would likewise be a maturing adventure for college and even savvy high school students. Naturally, for-sale-by-owner explorers would also likely gain substantially from a solid understanding of this material.

* To encourage completion of all 12 roughly 1-hour lessons, this is for 12 months of access - although true slowpokes can renew for 70% off their original cost. 

Here is a "trailer" that explains the scope of the course and illustrates its style of presentation. Further below is a breakdown of the material in each lesson:

Additional details about the material covered are listed in the "certificate" menu item above for this web page
 

 

Course Curriculum

  • 1

    Lesson 1: The Hype, the Realities, the Risks - What to Not Do

    • Very Brief Overview of the Course | Unreality of the Hype | What to NOT do . . . |Nature of the Risks You Face | Is This a Reasonable Type of Investment?

  • 2

    Lesson 2. Where Are You Now and How Do You Like Your Risks?

    • What are your Skills? | What Are your Desires? | How Well Can You Handle Stress? | The Critical Concept of Tax Basis | Your Most Valuable Asset
  • 3

    Lesson 3: Is Real Estate Actually Your Best Choice?

    • What are the Alternatives? | Our Absolutely Crazy Investment Environment Right Now | There Are No Blue Chip Stocks | Annuities | Bonds Are Better? | Your Own Business?
  • 4

    Lesson 4: Why is Real Estate Attractive?

    • The Magnificence of Debt (?) | Cash Flow is Possible (?) | Painful Realities of Inflation | Tax Shelter via Real Estate (?) |The Joy of Having Complete Control
  • 5

    Lesson 5: Drawbacks of Real Estate

    • How to Confront Risk | RE Going Down | Extreme Leverage of Interest Rates | Legal Exposures | Tenant Turnover | Insurance Realities | Transaction Costs Huge | Risk with Different Deal Architectures
  • 6

    Lesson 6: The Attractive and the Others

    • The Golden Target | Specific Problems to Seriously Avoid | How To Find Deals | Your Absolutely Target Market | How To Configure Specific Deals | Types of Projects To Reject Out of Hand | REITs?
  • 7

    Lesson 7: What to Fix and How to Do It

    • A Walk Through Numerous Higher Payoff Choices | Penciling A Benefit Cost Analysis - Backwards | Practical Project Management | Working With Contractors | Permits | Mistakes of Many Sellers
  • 8

    Lesson 8: Which Approach to Property Investing is Best for You?

    • What are Your Personal Circumstances - Now? | Four Strategic Choices - Which is Best for You? | The Key to Results in this Field | Realistic Flipping Case Study | Negotiating Tactics | Foreclosure vs Option | Double Escrow Concept
  • 9

    Lesson 9: The Art and Realities of Property Management

    • Your Skills? | No Mister Nice Guy | The Risks - the Many Risks | Best Form of Ownership? | Reducing Chances of Getting Sued | The Agreement | Tenant Selection | Removing Tenants | Professional Management?
  • 10

    Lesson 10: Looking at Bigger Fish

    • Realities of Each Alternative | How to Value Them - Cap Rate, Cash on Cash - and other Dangerous Shortcuts | Best Method to Evaluate Investments | Practical Use of the Most Basic Concept in Finance | Professionally Evaluating Competing Investments
  • 11

    Lesson 11: Death & Taxes - Nine Ways to Get Out Alive

    • Active vs Passive Investments | Nine Alternatives & their Tax Implications | Just Die | Sell and Pay Taxes | Sell & Defer Taxes | Move In - Sell Later | Newer Tax Rules | Create an MIL | Exchange Up | Shift to Triple Net Leases | Use an upReit | Donate
  • 12

    Lesson 12: What is Right for You - Now and in the Future?

    • Three Possible Starting Points | Serious Implications of This Type of Commitment | What are You Willing to Put Up With? | Hobby, Job or Way of Life? | Are the Weekend Seminars Wildly Unrealistic? | Size of You vs Size of Your Problems
  • 13

    SUPPORTING MATERIALS

    • Exam for Certificate: 2017

    • Draft Tenant Self Screening Handout

    • Residential Lease Guidelines

    • Check-In / Check-Out Form

About the instructor

Instructor

Tom Carson

Tom Carson is finance specialist  and real estate investor who started life teaching applied economics at  two Midwestern liberal arts colleges. In search of additional adventures he subsequently became a bank vice president for risk  management, a director of capital investment planning, and a specialist  in public utility pricing. He has owned and personally managed investment properties for over 25 years, mostly in the US, and as a result has seen many of the twists and turns in this arena.He  is frequently surprised by the often less-than-fully-informed nature of  many people who choose to buy residential and commercial properties  with the intention of generating substantial cash flow and capital gains. It is hoped that the material in this course will help reduce the number of mistakes made by both entry level, and also by more seasoned, explorers in this world of property investing.Unlike  many of his earlier college classes, this course has no prerequisites  in math or economics. Its down-to-earth and engaging style should be  readily accessible to anyone with a solid general education, and a  willingness to objectively consider the well-earned and very practical  insights of others.

For those who want more details about what is involved, do take a look at the certificate at the top of this web page

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