Real Estate Law

For a person with scientific training background who is contemplating real estate investments, this was an excellent book. It's my first book on the topic so it is difficult to compare it with others on the market. If you are looking for a solid, comprehensive, easy to read textbook (600pages), then I would highly recommend this book.

First, I should note that a more recent edition (5th edition) is out. I bought this edition used to save money, but it is so good (but slightly out of date, published in 1998) that I will next buy the 5th edition. The best thing I have to say about this book is it is well-written. It is probably the best-written textbook I have ever read. It has useful case studies and good citations and explanations of relevant court decisions. The one weakness of this book is it does not in my mind spend enough time covering differences between state laws, but that would probably make the book far too long. This book covers almost everything you need to know about the law and real estate. It covers ownership forms (including JTWROS, tenant in common, joint tennants, etc), liens, buying and selling property, easements, government regulation and zoning, environmental regulation, and much more. I should note that at least this 4th edition is lacking in a discussion of LLC ownership of land and some recent environmental concerns (such as radon), both of which are probably covered in the more recent edition.

as a company who searches titles in all 120 kentucky counties, everyday, we believe this book is useful in showing the various basic terms in real estate and the nesessary use of title insurance.

The book is useful if you have no experience with real estate law. It presents real estate legal concepts in a logical manner breaking topics up into such things as easements, etc. However, much of the information is covered in the real estate law class if you have taken the California Salesperson exam.

I am not a law student, but I want to feel secure in the legal aspects of my activities as a real estate investor. This book provides exactly that. It is easy to understand and very well organized. It may be missing a few examples for some complex points, but in general is a great book for anybody who want to really know the ins and outs of real estate law.