Buy It By The Acre, Sell It By The Foot: The Anatomy of a Real Estate Development;

NON FICTION BOOK REVIEW  

386 words 

Title: Buy It By The Acre, Sell It By The Foot: The 
Anatomy of a Real Estate Development; by Sam 
Allman and Sheldon Allman; Crossroads Press; 
paperback; 200 pages, $19.95;

Reviewer: A.T.Connellan, "Sam Calls A Spade 
A Shovel"

Sam Calls A Spade A Shovel

The investment marketplace has no shortage of hucksters 
promoting get-rich-quick-without-risk schemes to the gullible. 
In recent years one of the favorite "black holes" has been 
real estate which has perhaps swallowed up more of the 
public's money than any other of the "roll the dice" games. 

For anyone other than those buying a roof over their head, 
the first investment might advisedly be this informative 
volume. Written by brothers Sam and Sheldon Allman, who 
describe it not as a how to, but as a how come, it could save 
you a lot of heartache. 

Sam Allman is a frequent "guest lecturer" at investment 
seminars sponsored by Equity the west coast magazine. 
Allman has a nicely understated droll delivery which betrays 
a background as a stand-up comic. He lulls, he charms, and 
when you're not looking, he slips in a gem of knowledge 
here, and a generous dollop of common sense there. He 
writes just as he delivers his shtick, with gentle good humor 
and an abundance of information.

The point is that he knows his stuff. He learned it on the journey 
from binge to broke, to back again. He touches nerves when 
he writes, "If you've ever lost any money in a real estate deal, 
this book will tell you where it went." 

For most amateurs, financial disaster in real estate occurs as a 
result of lack of knowledge combined with greed, a deadly 
combination. It is a market that is complex and only for the 
knowledgeable. Naive intruders are the legitimate prey of the 
predators who populate the field. 

How to avoid it? Follow Sam's 16 Rules, 10 Questions, and 37 
Great Truths. In them he sets out the "how to" of real estate 
investment, with particular respect to his area of expertise, residential 
land development.

The appendix to this book is an Allman Limited Partnership, 
Westhaven Properties Inc., a 29 acre, 116 lot subdivision in 
Nanaimo, BC. Readers will be able to relate back to the book's 
Rules, Questions, and Great Truths, to determine exactly how 
the authors do indeed practice what they preach. 

Perhaps the most compelling reason for buying this book lies in 
Allman's Great Truth #37 "If you think that education is expensive, 
you ought to try ignorance." 

Amen.