zzThis book is an exploration of the key concepts of real estate finance and investment strategy. It is not a mere formulaic analysis of numbers designed to give you "the answer" to any and all real estate investment decisions. Instead, this book is designed to help you understand that there is no singular or simplistic answer to any real estate finance problem. Rather, real estate finance is fundamentally driven by judgment and experience, with an eye to the numbers. The goal is to help you evaluate the risks and opportunities of real estate assets and investments, and will hopefully help you embark upon the long and unending road of strengthening your judgment.

zzBasic information on loan amortization, discounted cash flows, net present value, and IRR are presented in appendices. The text assumes that the reader has a mastery of these subjects. Extra supplementals are included to provide interesting information, but are not essential for the mastery of the chapters in the text.

zzThe formulas and templates found in the book are intended to help its reader assemble and organize information. Understanding and mastering the tools included in the book is the beginning of real estate finance. This book focuses on what to do after you have mastered the basic financial tools. Just as knowing how to use a hammer and saw is not the same as building a wonderful building that will last the ages, knowing how to build a financial model and calculating the internal rate of return for a spreadsheet is not the same as making a profitable real estate investment. Judgment comes one mistake at a time, and better to make some of those mistakes in this class than "in real life."