About the Author
John T. Reed

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John T. Reed is the author of 20 real estate investment books and is the sole writer and publisher of John T. Reed's Real Estate Investor's Monthly newsletter. He has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, including 60 Minutes and Larry King Live. Reed was a real estate investor for 23 years. He worked as a real estate agent and as a property manager managing office, industrial, farm, and residential properties. Reed holds a bachelors degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a master of business administration degree from Harvard Business School.

Real estate owned:

• 1969-1974: 16 Harvard Avenue, Collingswood, NJ (duplex)
• 1972-1978: 426 Euclid Avenue, Haddonfield, NJ (duplex)
• 1974-1978: 340 Avondale Avenue, Haddonfield, NJ (house)
• 1975-1978 10 Tenth Avenue, Haddon Heights, NJ (duplex)
• 1975-1978: Holly Apartments, 137-139 High Street, Mount Holly, NJ (12-unit apartment building)
• 1978-1983: Greenbriar Apartments, 1500 Beverly Circle, Corsicana, TX (37-unit apartment building)
• 1980-1983: 45 LaSalle Drive, Moraga, CA (house)
• 1983-1988: Las Brisas Apartments, 6414 Brentwood Stair Road, Fort Worth, TX (33-unit apartment complex)
• 1983-1992: Cottonwood Apartments, 510 East Beltline Road, DeSoto, TX (25-unit apartment building)
• 1983-date: 342 Bryan Drive, Alamo, CA (house)

Total rental units owned: 117
Total houses owned: 3

Online articles about John T. Reed

• MSN Money - Nothing quick about getting rich with real estate
• CNN Money.com - Get Real
• New York Times - Tips on Becoming a Successful Investor
• East Bay Express - Don't Tread on Me
• See my wikipedia entry for other links

A number of people—possibly gurus (using fake names) that Reed has criticized—have posted false statements about John T. Reed on the Internet, including that he lost money on every property he ever bought. That is not true. He made money on ten of the twelve. He lost money on the two Texas apartment complexes. Virtually every other owner of such properties in Texas at that time also lost money similarly. The causes were:

• the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which cut the value of income properties 25% overnight by drastically reducing deduction of their tax losses
• the oil glut that reduced employment in Texas
• the savings and loan crisis that caused extreme overbuilding of apartments in Texas

It should be noted that as far as Reed knows, he is the only real estate investment guru who currently provides the addresses of all the properties he owned. The other gurus refuse to provide addresses, most likely because the number of deals they did is small or zero, or the deals were unprofitable or less profitable than they would have you believe, or the deals were crooked, or all of the above.

Reed suggests that anyone citing Reed’s properties-owned list in a derogatory manner be asked for his list of properties owned. Don’t hold your breath waiting for it.

Nowadays, some gurus claim they do not release such information because they own the properties secretly to avoid losing them to frivolous lawsuits. That makes sense for a wealthy, private person, but it makes no sense for some guy who spends every day telling the world how rich he is. Creditors who win judgments in court can put the defendant under oath and ask where his assets are. Lying about them is a felony. The trick of putting properties in ownership that hides the name of the true owner only works for those who also keep secret the fact that they are wealthy.

For example, Donald Trump claims he has owned many properties. His Web site, www.trump.com, lists them. And he has far more to fear from frivolous lawsuits than any real estate infomercial guru.