HILDEGARDE'S INFORMATION AND REFERENCE WITH REGARD TO HOUSING AND REAL ESTATE AND TAXES
The world is wide and there are many sources of information. Especially exciting is the information now available through the web.
Here are a few of the sources which have been valuable to me.
GENERAL INFORMATION
California Department of Real Estate, Reference Book, 1997, PO Box 187000, Sacramento, 95818. 916-227-0864. www.dre.ca.gov
Would you believe that the best overview of all aspects of real estate in California has recently been published by the Department of Real Estate? In brief but thorough chapters it covers property law, title, transfers, deeds, escrow, landlord and tenant, loans and finance, syndicates and trusts, appraisal, real estate contract terms, taxation, and subdivisions. In addition there is specific information for the real estate broker: agency, license requirements, and property management.JACK MILLER
This man is the man who invented real estate... well, maybe not, but he is the most inventive and creative thinker and actor in real estate today. The word "entrepreneur" fits him perfectly.
He has not published any generally sold books (yet!). He has a few pamphlets and a monthly newsletter for sale. The best way to get the benefit of his fecund mind is to take one of his courses. He is an outstanding teacher and each year gives 12 or so courses around the country. For each new course he writes a fat course book which each class member gets. In my opinion, he is especially outstanding on the use of options, leases, land trusts, corporations, rental management, and Limited Liability Companies.
He started out teaching (with John Schaub) the fountainhead course on buying single family houses, "Making it Big on Little Deals". He still shines on this topic; you won't believe all the ways he has found to buy houses.
In recent years he has been teaching various courses in which he shows how to combine the trusts, LLCs, and corporations to maximize real estate value and minimize taxes. As his estate and those of his students have grown, he has begun to teach courses to show how families can preserve their wealth through generations; one is called "Dynasty". In the same vein is his course on "Charitable Trusts and Foundations". It confirms what I have often said: "Individuals are rich; families are wealthy".
Don't miss it if you have a chance to take one of his courses on a topic of use to you. I have taken one or two courses from him each year. Even when the topic is the same, I am always learning something new. National Capital Corporation, PO Box 21172, Tampa, FL 33622. 888-282-1882. www.cashflowconcepts.com.
NOLO PRESS
Ralph Warner, Ira Serkes, George Devine, How to Buy a House in California, Nolo Press
David Brown, The Landlord's Law Book, 2 vols., Nolo Press ("all the forms needed to file an eviction lawsuit in municipal court").
Nolo Press, publisher of legal self help books, two listed above, is a great source for information about many aspects of housing and real estate as well as estate planning, divorce and many other legal topics. If you want to make some legal move for yourself, or if you would like to know how some aspect of the legal system works, Nolo Press is your company. The lawyers don't like them because they take bread out of lawyer's mouths. (Some have engineered the State of Texas recently into charging NOLO Press with the unauthorized practice of law.) You can get their catalog: 950 Parker Street, Berkeley, Ca 94710. Orders: 800-992-6656. Information: 510-549-1976. www.nolo.comLeigh Robinson, Landlording: A Handymanual for Scrupulous Landlords and Landladies Who Do It Themselves, PO Box 1639, El Cerrito, Ca 94530-4639, http://www.landlording.com. 510-236-5496.
This is a thorough guide to the business of managing rental properties. It has advice for all situations, forms, laws. It is aimed at the practical problems and has been very helpful. My edition is the seventh. I have often seen it for sale in the larger bookstores.JOHN T. REED
How to Manage Residential Property for Maximum Cash Flow and Resale Value, 4th ed 1995
Aggressive Tax Avoidance For Real Estate Investors
Find the most recent edition; he revises them when the tax law tinkerers have done their work. Note that this is tax avoidance, not tax evasion, which is illegal. You do not have to pay any more taxes than are due from you, and you may be surprised at how that may be reduced. Robert Bruss says of this: "There is no better or more practical real estate tax book than this. On my scale of 1 to 10, this excellent book rates a solid 10."How to Use Leverage to Maximize Your Real Estate Investment Return
John Reed is a one man real estate publishing phenomenon. He writes well and in depth and from experience. He has written more real estate books than those listed above. Reed Publishing, 342 Bryan Drive, Danville, CA 94526. 800-635-5425.REAL ESTATE LAW AND TAXES
Commerce Clearing House, Master Tax Guide (one is published for each year).
This is the reference to the federal tax laws. It is one thing to accumulate income and property, another to keep it from the tax collector. The IRS trains its agents using the Master Tax Guide. It is clearly written and you may find that it repays your reading of the relevant portions. For example, you may owe additional taxes if you do certain transactions with a "related party". You can find out how that concept is defined in this book, and there are several definitions which apply to different circumstances. They also publish a yearly California Tax Guide as well as many other books and courses on estate taxes, payroll taxes, retirement plans and the like. If you want to know about taxes of any kind, this is your company. CCH Incorporated, 4025 West Peterson Ave., Chicago, IL 60646. 800-248-3428. http://tax.cch.com/full/bookstoreThe Robert Bruss California Real Estate Law Newsletter.
Published monthly. 251 Park Road, Suite 200, Burlingame, CA 94010. 800-736-1736. This newsletter is aimed at real estate professionals who want to know recent court decisions that might affect them. Bruss also publishes a syndicated real estate column in newspapers answering questions.California Civil Code.
You can own your own copy of the California law books. The Civil Code, for example, has the California law on landlord and tenant. It is not expensive and is available as a paperback from West Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minnesota. 800-328-9352. They also sell all the other California Code books; of special interest to me are the Probate Code and the Code of Civil Procedure. Sometimes nothing else will do than the source. I can't see the need to get a new edition each year. One every 4 or 5 years seems enough to me.REAL ESTATE FORMS
Professional Publishing, 365 Bel Marin Keys Blvd., Suite 100, Novato, CA 94949-5654. 800-288-2006. www.profpub.com.
This is the place to go for well thought out, standard forms for most real estate deals: purchase agreements, lease-rental forms, mortgage forms, with all the addendums and disclosures. They have bundled together the forms you need for a California residential purchase ("California Single Transaction Packet"); also there is "The Lease Rental Packet".Every year the courts and the legislature make it more difficult to thread the maze of legal correctness, to make the proper disclosures, and to take other moves to avoid later lawsuits. (Complete avoidance is impossible. Hildegarde's First Rule of the Law states: "Anyone can sue anyone else for anything". Does anyone else feel that there is serious need for tort reform, along the lines of Richard Epstein's Simple Rules for a Complex World?) Anyhow, Professional Publishing keeps up on this law and incorporates the latest features and protections into its forms. Some forms are specifically for California use.