Investing in Apartment Buildings, Matthew Martinez
Every Real Estate “How To” book has a tone that pervades the entire book. In Matthew Martinez’s “Investing in Apartment Buildings” the tone seems to be “only buy buildings that are ‘value-add’ and you ‘win’ against the seller.” There is no “win-win” advice here! This “win” perspective is the book’s greatest strength and weakness.
The author does a nice job of outlining apartment buying basics, explaining the differences between 2-4 units and 5+ unit buildings. Once the introductory chapters are complete, he focuses on “Buying Low” and finding “Value-Add” deals.
While the author mentions “negotiating a great deal” I wanted to read more of the “how to” negotiate a great deal. Instead, he just touched on the concept without providing many specific examples.
Regarding the “win” approach in the book: it seems the author values obtaining the lowest price (no surprise, everyone wants to pay “less”!) yet does not mention other values as potential alternatives. For example, in David Lindahl’s book “Multi-Family Millions” the author references his value on long-term relationships that may create more wealth for a buyer.
Overall, I liked the book for beginning buyers that are going to continue to read and research more points of view.
