As the stock market swoops and dives like a maniacal seagull, I find myself looking more and more at alternate investment options. One I've always considered but never felt sold on is rental property. Dealing with another mortgage, dealing with tenants who wreck the place or want me to come over and fix something every other day--being a landlord has always seemed like a hassle.

Except, I know someone making a lot of money from it, and I've known many people whose first house was a two-unit building in which they lived in half and their tenant lived in the other, with the tenant basically making their mortgage payment for them. So I'm still curious enough to have obtained and read The Complete Idiot's Guide to Real Estate Investing Basics, written by David J. Decker and George G. Sheldon. Decker's a self-made millionaire real estate investor, and that fact alone makes getting into the field seem attractive.

I love these dummy and idiot books because they're often so detailed that every itsy-bitsy question you'd think to ask is answered for you. This book is no exception, and for that reason I think it could be the ultimate reference guide for someone just starting out as a real estate investor.

Like any good book for beginners, it starts at the beginning, giving you the pros and cons of real estate versus other investments. For example, rental property offers you both cash flow and asset appreciation at the same time, but it's expensive and not very liquid.

The book discusses potential goals as an investor--are you a buy and hold investor, or do you want to flip (buy a place, fix it up and sell it quickly for a profit)? It discusses how real estate agents, brokers and lenders can help you, and when you shouldn't necessarily follow their lead.

"Who would want to live here?" That's the big question any investor should be asking upon first considering a property, and the book takes you through the potential tenant mix for different types of properties and locations, as well as minimum requirements for any property. It also discusses the research you must do into your local market to ensure you're paying the right amount for the property, and charging the right amount in rent.

The book does a nice job in its discussion of income versus costs when deciding on which properties to buy. Obviously you want income generation, but if you don't fully study your mortgage payment and the projected expenses of actually running a building (insurance, lawn service, any utilities you pay for versus a tenant), you could find yourself losing money each month.

Of particular interest to me was the section on getting new tenants, dealing with them, and how to get rid of them if need be. It's well covered here, although I have to admit reading about it didn't exactly make me want to rush out and buy a property. I'm sure most tenants are great, but the slobs who bug the neighbors, don't pay the rent and then wreck your place when you try to evict them would set my blood pressure racing.

That's the meat of the book as far as I'm concerned, the basics for a novice investor. But there's plenty of other information, including the opportunities and pitfalls of the foreclosure market, traditional and non-traditional lending programs, buy/sell negotiating, upgrading for resale or to reposition a property for higher rent potential, the author's dim view of no-money-down investing and more. The final chapters offer some possibilities for those who find they really enjoy real estate and want to make it their full-time business.

After reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Real Estate Investing Basics, I feel confident that I could find a good property and manage it well. I still don't know if I want to, but I could. If you've progressed to the point where you're ready to get going, I'd recommend this as your guidebook.

By the way I'm about to read this new Trump University book called Real Estate 101 and I'll be sure to report back on that as well.