How I made the smartest housing buy of my life.

Several years ago when I was doing contract electronic engineering in Austin, TX. I found myself faced with skyrocketing rents and a highly variable income. I knew that I had to do two things:
 ·Reduce my monthly Cost of Housing.
 ·Stop throwing money away as rent.
I did this by buying a duplex and living in one half. Latter, I bought another. The following articles relate my experiences.

Articles

Why buy a Duplex
Ever wonder if buying an investment property is for you? Read this article.

Overview of how to buy a Duplex
Thinking of buying a Duplex or investment property, but don't know how to start? This article will walk you through the process.

The case for hiring a Property Manager
The down side of owning an investment property is managing it. A professional property manager can ensure that your investment is a success.

How to Make Money in Real Estate
There is more than one way to make money investing in real estate. This article examines a few.

10 Tips to Successful Real Estate Investing
We have found that there are certain guidelines every aspiring real estate investor needs to know.

Lessons Learned from a Recession
The Bush Recession has been a tough one, but it has been an instructive one too.

Basic Record Keeping For Landlords
Once you own a duplex you will need to keep your records in order. This article shows you how.

Tools

A new section full of helpful stuff

Property Account Sheet (Excel)
This Excel spread sheet gives you an easy way to track the income and expenses of your property.

Simple mortgage calculator
Use this calculator to figure payments on conventional single mortgage financing.

Complex mortgage calculator
Use this calculator to figure payments on creative financing and multiple mortgages.
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Books

Here is a short list of books that will help you and keep you out of trouble while persuing this real estate investment thing.

• Investing in Real Estate by Andrew Mclean and Gary W. Eldred
• Landlord and Tenant by Steven D Straus (Ask a Lawyer)
• Landlord and Tenant Law in a Nutshell by David S Hill.
• Complete Idiot's Guide to Being a Landlord by Brian F Edwards
• Landlord's Handbook by Danial Goodwin
• Every Landlord's Legal Guide by Marcia Stewart

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Some other real estate links

There are many web sites devoted to real estate, and many about investing. But there are few about investing in real estate. These are some of the better real estate investment sites I have found. (click on the logo to go to that site)

John Reed's Real estate investment site.
Lots of good articles on investing in real estate. Also has some books and tapes for sale. Don't overlook the articles on investment scams.

National Assoc. of Property Managers. Take a look at the tab "About NARPM" and go to the bottom right of the page and click on "Code of Ethics" and on "Standards of Professionalism". The "Directory" tab will take you to a page where you can search for a manager by selecting "Chapter Name" and looking for a chapter in the state and area of interest.

Home management network. Information for Landlords, Tenants, and Managers.

The Dollar Stretcher's articles on buying and selling houses.
Lots of good wisdom on the home buying and selling process with a few articles about buying rental properties.

HUD's counsumer information page. The government's own web site with consumer information about HUD programs. Also has some information to protect yourself from scams.