This mini course will help you decide, by explaining the numerous risks, excitements, stressors and many of the critical tax issues involved. The instructor has owned & managed properties for over 25 years, while working in the US, Canada and Europe as a PhD economist. He started life as a very popular 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. There are roughly 12 hours of material, covering the full range of key topics in this field, including: how to select a controlling position, what to fix, how to manage the properties you keep, key tax aspects, how to value properties, and how to get out of your property investments with minimal tax exposure. This is not a $700 weekend hotel seminar on how to buy 12 properties in 30 days. It might be the opposite. There are no calculus or finance prerequisites for this course, although we do get into details sometimes beyond what many real estate brokers might know, as suggested further below.
Although aimed at men and women with substantial life experience, this course is also relevant for sometimes overly-confident young professionals. Real estate specialists, such as brokers, escrow agents, inspectors, etc, might also benefit. 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 adventurers would also likely gain substantially from this material.