Commercial Real Estate Investing: A Creative Guide to Succesfully Making Money

I loved this book. Excellent education about how to find tenants, which equations to learn to evaluate a property, and plenty of examples to learn from. I plan to read all of Dolf’s books.

This book is exciting and easy to read, as compared to dull textbooks. Dolf shares his worldwide experience and lets us re-live his deals. I learned more about commercial investing than in years as a real-estate agent. And one of his core teachings is “never sell” - which I have not heard anywhere else.

This book has convinced me to start focusing my energies towards commercial real estate investing vs. residential investing. The author has experience on both areas and has written books on both commercial & residential investing. His experiences and college lecturing convinces me he is a reputable source. He doesn't make any crazy get rich promises, but provides a good frame of reference to operate from which include finding property, finding tenants, factoring whether it is a good buy, and financing etc... I can't wait to put the ideas to work. I recommend the book to any one curious about getting started in commercial real estate investing. In fact, I'm buying a copy for my father-in-law who only invests in residential rental homes.

I read this 3 years after reading and starting to apply the lessons from his previous book real estate riches as I was contemplating the shift from residential to commercial real estate investing and I was not disappointed. Every chapter has more insight than a 2 year MBA program, after reading the book every lemon you see turns into a pig fat grape fruit, I successfully participated in a commercial real estate project, development of a 50,000 sq foot shopping mall, which felt like my 10 project thanks to the insights from the book. I am now working to structure a 5 mall portfolio and the confidence was all from Doolf.

As a person that invested in residential real estate, I can truly identify with the trials, tribulations and losses that Dolf has mentioned. I have never invested in commercial real estate for two reasons... Lack of knowledge and understanding of how to succeed. I have just finished reading this book 5/27/15 and have applied/registered for a LLC, which I intend to acquire my first commercial property after doing due diligence within the next few months, here in North Carolina!! Thanks Dolf for the simple techniques that you have shared in this book.

Even if you can get just one tip from this book it is well worth the the time to read and the money to buy this book. This book has many tips. It is a must read for anyone looking to gain more knowledge in commercial real estate.

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I just finished this book and I must say it was a quick and enjoyable read. The author is clearly enthusiastic about the subject and seems to have a lot of practical experience, since he's an investor. He also has a number of creative ideas, such as leasing the airspace above your building for cell antennas or billboards. Unfortunately, the book wasn't the introduction to commercial real estate that I had hoped. He didn't review the different property types (retail, industrial, hotel, parking, etc) and he only superficially reviewed how to evaluate the numbers. I also felt that the book involved way too much self-promotion. I walked away feeling enthusiastic about commercial real estate but also feeling just as clueless about how to pick a property or prepare a lease.

Very good book to understand more about commercial real estate

If you want to buy a commercial property and you know nothing, I wouldn't start with this book. But, I would recommend you read this book at some point. Even if you're a residential investor like I am, the book is worth a read. You'll find it opens your mind up to a slightly different perspective and some different ideas. Money is made in real estate by increasing the revenue (which in commercial especially increases the value of the property) and decreasing the costs. This book has some great suggestions to help you do both. Quickly, here's why I would recommend this book to any real estate investor, large, small, experienced or inexperienced: - Pictures tell a thousand tales and while the pictures are black and white, they do a decent job of illustrating the stories and examples and make the lessons from the book easier to remember. I think more real estate investing books should have pictures! - Creative strategies that are easily explained and understandable (and you won't read about them everywhere!). I am not talking about fancy strategies for financing or anything, I am talking about different ways to increase your revenue like signs on roofs, renovations to make a property appeal to a different tenant, and other problems to look for that can be solved to make more money. - This book is entertaining - he tells of some odd deals he's done and interesting ideas he's had and you'll find yourself learning and enjoying the read at the same time. This book has great examples and good stories. It's an idea book more than a how-to book. That's why I say it's not going to help a total novice buy commercial property. But, I do think it's worth a read if you're into real estate.

Dolf de Roos is a man with plenty of experience in property investment, and not just within one market, but many markets across the globe, and not just over a short period of time, but over decades. His books are always an entertaining read, and his ability to sharply focus on issues is fantastic. This book includes lots of detail of how to find a good deal, how to MAKE a good deal out of the raw materials (often a vacant property), and I always enjoy his philosophical comments about business in general, in particular his comment that "it's not about WHO is right, it's about WHAT is right". Dolf is a dynamic, modern businessman, but one who follows the time-tested approaches that have always worked - common sense, work the numbers, and a healthy dose of ethics. This book includes case studies of small deals and big deals, and very clearly explains that the "downsides" of commercial property are actually the upsides! I really enjoyed this book and it has given me many great ideas to grow my property business, I highly recommend it.

A good intro and illustration to what CRE may be able to deliver. Also some good ideas on uplifts. Will give you a motivation boost but this definitely not enough to get you started on the nitty gritty. All in all worth the money.

Having done reasonably well with residential RE in London UK with a sizable portfolio (although nothing compare to Mark's), I started reading this great book with the intention to do some commercial to resi deals this year. Three quarters of my way through the book, there has already been tonnes of valuable lessons that would no doubt save me lots of £ in the coming transactions. Furthermore, Mark tackles the property subjects from a technical but also a business level given his admirable corporate career. He also talks business in a very humanity and ethical level, encouraging goodwill in today's society. The least I can do is to give credit back to Mark for sharing his great wisdom and knowledge for so little money. This book certainly goes down as the best business book I read so far!