Mike and Irene Milin are the world's most successful couple in real estate education, the "Dynamic Duo" whose amazing sellout seminars in real estate management have shown thousands across the country how to find, purchase, and rent properties -- and let their tenants do the work! Now the Milins have put their practical, time-tested techniques into a book, How to Buy and Manage Rental Properties. They show you how to use the Milin Method to avoid problems and expenses while keeping the money coming in -- the Milin promise is financial freedom in two to three years! How to Buy and Manage Rental Properties will show you how you can get tenants involved in the maintenance of your rental properties -- the remarkable "hands-off" strategies that put your properties on auto pilot, leaving you the time to achieve more as a real estate entrepreneur. Their program covers in detail all aspects of buying, financing, maintaining, and renting properties, including: * Managing people, not property * Buying right to manage right * Rental interviews and agreements * Keeping good tenants, and getting rid of bad ones * Bookkeeping, taxes, and property tracking * Real estate agents and property sales * Equity sharing and partnerships It's all here in a guide you can easily read and refer to -- the best, most comprehensive program of buying and rental techniques ever developed, detailing sound and sensible ways to protect your investments and get the most out of your properties with the least trouble.

Table of Contents:
Contents INTRODUCTION Working for Others Doesn't Work Three Years to Freedom Landlording Is the World's Most Profitable Business Two Reasons Why People Are Scared to Buy Real Estate Successful Management Means Successful Investing A "Hands-Off" Cash-Flow Management Plan Landlording Still Has a Bad Image Owning Rental Property Doesn't Have to Be Hard Work The Management Burden Is on the Tenants ONE : SUCCESSFUL LANDLORDING IS NO ACCIDENT The Right Property Attracts the Right Tenants Don't Buy Rental Property in Rental Areas Owner-Occupied Areas Are Stable It's Hard to Think of One Hundred Units as "Home" You Want Tenants Who Are Eager to Rent from You Keep Tenants in Awe of You You Must Attract Renters Before You Can Choose One You've Got to Know Where the Money's Going The Right Time to Sell Your Properties Keeping Expenses Under Control TWO : PEOPLE--NOT PROPERTIES--CAUSE PROBLEMS Business Is People Investing in Tenants The Phantom Management Company The Millionaire Landlord The Poor Landlord Houses and Small Apartment Buildings Stability Is Golden Pets and Children Welcome Preventing People Problems Rewards and Incentives for Good Tenants Punishment for Bad Tenants Rebellious Tenants What Kinds of Tenants Push for Rent Control? Professional Radicals Ignorant Victims Abused Tenants THREE : BUY RIGHT TO MANAGE RIGHT Beware of Discount Pricing Finding Good Rentals What Are Tenants Looking For? Checking out the Neighborhood Looking at the House Know What You're Buying Prepare an Inspection Checklist Negotiating with Sellers The Terms We Want The One-Two-Three Punch Balloon Payments Let the Seller Get the Loan FOUR : PURCHASE AGREEMENTS Who Pays for What? The Weasel, or Escape, Clause Personalized Forms The Financing Rent It Out Before You Buy Make the Seller Get Rid of Bad Tenants Set Up a Reasonable Schedule for Showing the Property FIVE : CONSTRUCTING AN AD CAMPAIGN Advertising in a Renter's Market Television Radio Flyers Military Newspapers Finder's Fees Constructing Your Ad SlX : PICKING THE RIGHT TENANTS Always Pick Your Tenants--Never Let Them Pick You Meeting the Applicants Creating Your Own Office The Renter's Convention Discrimination Is Bad Business ardGet to Know Renters Make Your Rules Clear SEVEN : THE RENTAL INTERVIEW We're Tough Interviewers Never Make Exceptions Setting the Stage Accentuate the Negative Explaining the Rental Contract to Tenants An Ounce of Prevention EIGHT : TRAINING TENANTS TO OBEY YOUR RULES Setting Up a Surveillance Network Making Tenants Feel at Home Raising the Rents Reward the Good Tenants The Rent Belongs to the Landlord NINE : GETTING RID OF BAD TENANTS Alternatives to Eviction Paying Bad Tenants to Leave We Play for Keeps TEN : KEEPING THE GOOD TENANTS Good Tenants Become Buyers Lease Options for Good Tenants First Right of Refusal Options Performance Options A Happy Tenant Is a Solid Tenant ELEVEN : PROPERTY MAINTENANCE Hassle-Free Maintenance Heading Off Problems TWELVE : CUTTING EXPENSES A Dollar Saved Times One Hundred Properties Adds Up Two Garbage Cans Aren't Better Than One Lights Can Eat Up Your Profits Training a Handyman Eliminate All Expenses That Will Increase Cut Expenses Before You Buy the Property Ask for a Moratorium on Payments Tie the Payments to the Property's Performance Have the Seller Carry a Graduated-Payment Loan Get an Adjustable-Rate Loan Get the Seller to Carry a Loan with Interest-Only Payments Put a Backdoor Clause in All Your Notes Have the Seller Carry a Note with No Payments THIRTEEN : BOOKKEEPING Getting Your Money Comes First Automatic Rent Transfers A Simple System The Property Card The Ledger Card Property Codes Using the System Expense Codes FOURTEEN : HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON TAXES Buy Right to Pay Taxes Right Investment Strategies Change Prepare for Maximum Depreciation Land-to-Improvements Ratio Finding Replacement Costs Working with an Appraiser Personal Property Depreciation Taking Risks The Old Tax Law The New Tax Law Depreciation Capital Gains Passive Losses Rehabilitation Tax Credits Neutralizing Negative Cash Flow Real Losses Employ Others, Not Yourself Repairs, Not Improvements Tax-Deductible Management More Shelter FIFTEEN : TRACKING YOUR PROPERTIES Buying the Future Watch Your Houses Carefully Listen to Tenants Cut Your Losses Five-Year Plan SIXTEEN : PUTTING IT ON AUTOMATIC PILOT Good Cash Buyers Are Hard to Find Refinancing Selling Paper Why Carry Paper? A Word of Caution Creative Financing Is Not Just for Buyers Imputed Interest Lease Options The Option Fee The Increased Rent-Lease Option The Decreased Rent-Lease Option Limited Partnerships SEVENTEEN : EQUITY SHARING: A MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR THE '80S AND BEYOND Owner Occupants Make Better Tenants Three Ways to Use Equity Sharing Appealing to Existing Tenants Advertising for Equity-Share Tenants Advertising for Equity-Share Home Buyers Advertising for Equity-Share Investors Choosing an Equity-Share Partner How Long Will You Share the Equity? First Right of Refusal How Do You Divide the Equity? Ask for a Down Payment What If Your Co-Owner Defaults? The Equity-Share Wraparound The Equity-Share Performance Option Equity-Share Management EIGHTEEN : PREPARING YOUR PROPERTY FOR SALE Investors Are the Worst Buyers Get the Best Possible Deal When You Sell Location What Will Improvements Cost Comparable Prices Spic-and-Span Sells Selling "As Is" Roofing Plan Sales Carefully Stay Flexible NINETEEN : DEALING WITH REAL ESTATE AGENTS Agents Use Multiple-Listings Services The Listing Agreement Open Listings Exclusive Agency Listings Exclusive Listings Exclusive Right to Sell -- Multiple Listings Discount Brokers The Agent Must Work for His/Her Money What Your Agent Can (and Can't) Do for You The Agent Handles Advertising How Many Other Agents Does Your Agent Know? Let Your Agent Be Your Guide Finding an Agent Open Houses Newspaper Ads How Not to Choose an Agent TWENTY : SELLING PROPERTY YOURSELF Keep Your Ads Brief but Effective Emotions Sell Houses Cooperating with Agents AFTERWORD : Now, Go Out and Do It! INDEX