The door is open for anyone interested in acquiring a real estate fortune, thanks to a new book that shows how.

To counter the suggestion that great deals are the exception and not the rule, best-selling author Dolf de Roos and Gene Burns challenged themselves to buy one home every week for an entire year. They acquired these properties using a variety of financing and acquisition techniques, which they document in "The Insider's Guide to 52 Homes in 52 Weeks" (Wiley, $16.95, paper).

The book doesn't just chronicle what they did and how they did it. It also shows readers how they can take these techniques and apply them to their own acquisition program, whether they want to buy one house a week or just one a year.

In the beginning, the authors looked for pre-foreclosure homes and then feverishly tried to find tenants for them. Towards the end, they signed up tenants and then found houses for them to move into.

Topics in the book include how to determine your strategy and getting started; learning to ask for help; finding the right location; lease options; owner financing; pre-foreclosure and many more.

Dr. de Roos, PhD is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author.