The Peebles Path to Real Estate Wealth: How to Make Money in Any Market. R. Donohue Peebles and J.P. Faber. Wiley. 216 pages
BY RICHARD PACHTER
Disclaimer: This is a book review, not a personal profile or a breaking news story. If you are interested in reading more about R. Donohue Peebles, use the Google! As a developer in South Florida and other communities, he's received quite a bit of coverage.
In reading this guide to making money in real estate, shards of Peebles's curriculum vitae emerge, though that's far from its focus. Still, there's a bit of a narrative thread that wends through it, though each occurrence offers a brief glimpse and no more.
Essentially most of the book is a prosaic and painstaking primer on the fundamentals of real estate selection, evaluation, negotiation and financing, then buying and selling the property.
If you weren't already aware that the idea is to buy low and sell high, you'll find Peebles's lessons quite valuable. But most sapient and sentient beings understand that, and if they've read any real estate book -- or bought or sold a home - have learned this fundamental principle.
But like the redoubtable son of Rich Dad Robert Kiyosaki, Peebles advises to pursue undervalued properties and negotiate fiercely with lenders, owners, government officials or whomever holds the keys (literally or figuratively). Of course, as real-estate prices plummet, finding these bargain properties, according to Peebles, isn't too tough. All you need is cash. Or if you don't have any cash, good credit. Or if you don't have good credit well, more about that in a bit.
DISSING TRUMP
Peebles (and his co-author, J.P. Faber) write clearly and simply, and with some humor (though no knee-slappers) and drop plenty of references to South Florida, which might aid anyone who wants to annotate this book with footnotes detailing the author's achievements. Interestingly, there's just a single unindexed reference to fellow South Florida developer and fellow author Jorge Perez -- as a subject of litigation. Though Donald Trump is mentioned, as Peebles gleefully strips the varnish off the Trump legend by pointing out how the blustery serial failure is popularly perceived as a success -- a source of wisdom, even, for erstwhile apprentices, while defaulting on debts and executing other abortive and bone-headed deals.
There's also an interesting analysis of the real-estate glut caused by bureaucratic bumbling and incompetence in the wake of the savings and loan collapse in the late '70s and early '80s. Peebles, though, was able to rise above the chaos and managed to profit by being in the right place and boldly going where others could or would not.
HOME TOURS
Throughout the text, Peebles also touches on his various personal residences, their asking prices, how he acquired them and what he paid, as a means of illustrating his instructions and illuminating his methods. It's interesting though not especially compelling.
The best part of the book, though, is tucked away in the back, as Peebles instructs prospective investors to divest themselves of most inhibitions and traditional proscriptions against amorality in dealing with private and public institutions. Though it's been widely reported that mortgage money is tight and that some institutions are now requiring as much as 40 percent down, Peebles preaches boldness. Seems to have worked for him!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Buy low, sell high
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Billionaire Blueprint
Here's a review of a book by a local Miami developer. The image below was sent to me by a reader, Harry Emilio Gottlieb, who "annotated" the cover.
Powerhouse Principles: The Billionaire Blueprint for Real Estate Success. Jorge Perez. Celebra. 288 pages.
If Jorge Perez were not a successful Miami-based developer, I'd probably never open this book. No knock on him, but most tomes professing ''this is how I did it; this is how you can do it'' are boring and loaded with self-righteous pontification, glad-handing, name-dropping and other effluvia.
Though reading Perez's book was initially a bit of a rough slog, I hung in there and survived. Actually, it wasn't that bad. (And it's probably worth mentioning that this is a review of a book, and not of a man, his reputation or accomplishments.)
Perez describes himself as a salesman, and he's likely a terrific talker, so the text seems like it was dictated, then transcribed and edited. That's good and bad. Most of Perez's verbal idiosyncrasies and repetitions were probably excised, though several may remain, as the editing is a little loose. Regardless, once one adjusts to its rhythm, it's a breezy read, but tighter editing and the imposition of a bit more structure would have improved it.
As the book stands, it's hard to see a consistent thread or narrative spine, other than Perez's positive tone. Indeed, the author's enthusiasm for his profession and his role in it is palpable, and he obviously delights in offering an expansive review of his projects and the wisdom he gleaned from them.
I enjoyed reading about efforts to develop properties in areas that conventional wisdom had determined as being unworthy, like Little Havana, or unlikely, like Brickell. But I didn't see anything that was terribly revelatory or newsworthy.
Regarding the title, as a ''blueprint,'' it's a bit like the prep for a rhinoceros stew recipe; ''first, catch a rhino.'' Uh, right. While it may be possible, as Perez declares, for almost anyone to achieve what he has, in reality few can and fewer do.
As a set of principles, the text may ramble a bit, but the author is very consistent in his admonitions and exhortations for conducting business in an honest, ethical and upright manner. He also advocates smart things like striving to create a perception of value, establishing personal connections with vendors and business partners by leaving some money on the table, and preparing meticulously before making any offer.
Most, if not all, of the advice is pretty bulletproof and unimpeachable, but it's doubtful that he would recommend doing something illegal or unethical in print.
In real estate, the most important thing is location, and in investments, it's probably timing. Given the current moribund state of the market, it would have been worthwhile to have Perez's insights on this issue, especially for ways investors might salvage projects for which financing has evaporated or, worse, situations where they've become ''upside down,'' owing more than the property's current market value.
For real-estate investors and professionals who track Perez's projects, this book will prove worthy of attention, and perhaps even inspire some annotation. But for those of us whose holdings consist of their family residences — in partnership with a bank — it may prove somewhat less riveting.
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