In my last post, I reviewed the most commonly used real estate finance textbooks, and at least a few of you wrote in to remind me that I forgot to mention what is arguably the best introduction to commercial real estate – The Real Estate Game: The Intelligent Guide To Decisionmaking And Investment
In an ocean of horrible get-rich-quick books which is only matched by a sea of dry academic works, Poorvu’s book manages to balance theory with practice. It’s a rarity. He managed to write a book that draws on his experience as a professor at Harvard and combined it with practical advice on why real estate developers do what they do.
In doing so, he has actually written a book that could help you make money. Best of all, it’s a good read.
I’ve taught real estate finance at a long list of schools (Columbia, NYU, Georgetown, etc.), and this is the only book that seems to be universally well received by the students. No one has even complained when I assigned this as a required text.
Best of all, it’ll only run you $20 or so. It’s a relative steal when compared to hardcover textbooks on the subject.