Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am an attorney in private practice and have many clients who fancy themselves real estate professionals. Very few of them, whether they own many properties or only a few, truly know and understand how to maximize the tax and legal advantages of real estate. I intend to recommend this book to all of my clients (and colleagues) who either already engage in, or express a desire in, real estate investing. Garrett Sutton's book, "Loopholes of Real Estate", is the best and most comprehensive book that I know of to frame a person's perspective of real estate investment through the lenses of tax minimization, asset protection, and cash flow maximization. Mr. Sutton, formerly a real estate broker himself and currently a real estate investor and attorney, brings real life experience, the law, and the professional knowledge of some of Robert Kiyosaki's greatest Rich Dad Advisors to bear in this outstanding work. This book is a survey of real estate law and investing concepts that is an absolute steal as a mass market product. The information in this book is sold for hundreds if not thousands of dollars in other media such as seminars, academic courses, and professional books. Sutton covers a myriad of topics, with an overall emphasis on tax minimization and keeping your investments out of the reach of ambulance-chasing attorneys. Among the topics covered in this book are: (a) the basics of asset depreciation including using cost segregation to maximize passive loss; (b) overview of 1031 exchanges and the basics of how to use and implement them; (c) concepts of property management; (d) how to hold real estate, including a devastating indictment of land trusts and the scam artists who promote them as a form of asset protection; (e) how to structure your real estate holdings, including how to use corporations, limited liability companies, and limited partnerships, including the different tax classifications of same (e.g., "S corp" versus "disregarded entity"); (f) how to layer your protective countermeasures using insurance, debt encumbrances, your state's homestead exemption, and equity stripping; (g) the different ways to hold title to real estate (e.g., the differences between tenancy in common and joint tenancy); (h) The different types of conveyances (e.g., grant 'warranty' deeds versus quit claim deeds) and their legal implications; (i) the "double negative" problem of investing in real estate using a Traditional (or Simple/SEP) IRA; and how to use a self-directed Roth IRA to invest in real estate if you choose to do so; and (j) how to protect your personal residence from creditors, including the proper use of your state's homestead exemption, LLCs, and debt encumbrance. Sutton's true brilliance is in how he crystallizes difficult, complex subjects into bite-size morsels that are easily consumed and digested by non-lawyers and non-real estate professionals. The Audible version of this book is narrated by Sutton himself, in a folksy, conversational tone which you can hardly tell is a narration at all. Listening to the audiobook often made me feel as if I was sitting in a chair in Sutton's law office having a personal conversation with him about how to achieve my real estate investment objectives. It is an absolutely brilliant production. There are many other topics covered in this book which you will find helpful and enlightening. Throughout the book, Sutton uses the case study method (used in law schools and business schools) to bring to life the reasons why proper asset protection planning and tax strategies can both maximize your income, minimize your tax liabilities, and protect your investments. In closing, I can't recommend this book more highly for anybody in any way connected with real estate. This should be the first thing you read about real estate investing, and Sutton provides numerous references for more in-depth discussions of certain topics. I recommend purchasing the Audible version and listening to it in the car, doing the dishes, and performing other chores, and then either owning the physical book or Kindle edition as a desktop reference. Rich Dad has once again hit a home run, and has successfully demystified and deconstructed a complex and daunting profession. With "Loopholes of Real Estate", the advantages of real estate investing are now open and accessible to ordinary Americans from every walk of life. Thank you, Mr. Sutton and Mr. Kiyosaki.