Real estate investing for dummies. That’s a pretty low bar that many of us set for ourselves when we go in search of real-world help and advice about investing wisely in real estate.

Perhaps you’ve done the same, searching amazon.com for one book after the other, hoping to discover the secret to building a passive income stream or improving on the returns of your retirement investment portfolio. That’s where I started my search when I was learning about real estate investing and I looked at nearly every book I could get my hands on, including the one actually titled, Real Estate Investing for Dummies.

But the books really didn’t help much, and I found them all lacking in this key area:

All the books geared towards real estate investing “for dummies” only told me the “why” of investing, which I already understood. But they never told me what to do next - where and what I should buy!

With HowManyDoors, I set out to provide just that type of actionable advice and I’ve made it free for anyone to access (without having to lug around another book!). You can get started right now, right here.

Once you read through the first section, Get Started, (which shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes or so) you’ll quickly move through simple exercises to get you thinking about your own, individual investment strategy. And that sets the stage for a deep dive on the Rental Evolution, and the two major trends that are fueling it - key concepts to understanding why residential real estate investing for dummies is the smart strategy.

Now, don’t let me leave you thinking that I’m knocking the book or the authors of Real Estate Investing for Dummies - I’m not. I just found a better way, and I’m happy to share the lessons of my experience - the mistakes and the successes. I truly believe real estate is a great investment opportunity for all the reasons you’ve heard - because it provides:

1. Regular monthly cash flow (that magical extra pay check!)
2. Long term appreciation opportunity
3. Protection against inflation
4. Significant tax benefits

If you stick with me, you’ll find you don’t need a college degree to be an investor, but you do need to set goals and know how to assess how a property should perform against those goals. I can walk you through a simple but thorough lesson on calculating your return on investment and I promise not to overwhelm or bore you. In fact, I dare say you’ll wind up feeling smarter than most, and you’ll be using your copy of Real Estate Investing for Dummies as a doorstop.

Let’s get started today!