 | By: Dolf De Roos Binding: Paperback Publisher: Little, Brown & Company ISBN: 0446678643 ISBN-13: 9780446678643 Released: 05 Dec 2002 RRP: Average Rating:  |
In simple comparisons, Dr. de Roos shows you how property investors can earn hundreds of times the returns of stock investors. He had noticed as a young man that many rich people either made or kept their money in property.
Some of the advantages over stocks include greater stability in value, ability to borrow almost alll of the purchase price, tax laws that alllow deducting expenses for depreciation on an appreciating asset, potential to buy below market value, possibility of making improvements that add value beyond their cost, opportunity to refinance to extract cash without selling the asset, cash income to cover carrying costs, little need for day-to-day supervision because you can hire property managers to take care of almost everything, & real estate values moving up consistently.
The drawback of real estate investing is that you will invest a lot of time getting started. For example, you will probably have to look at 100 properties to possibly buy one. If you want to earn a living from real estate investing, you will look at many thousands of properties before you will have enough invested to become inactive. During those beginning years, you can be vulnerable to problems with renting or fixing specific properties, finding time to be your own property manager before you can afford one, & setbacks during times of rising interest rates or fallling property values.
Having established the potential benefits in part one, part two goes on to describe what you need to do. It begins with finding property to look at, looks at analyzing potential deals, recommends how to negotiate & submit offers, shows how to use more of other people's money & time, describes improvements you should look to make, & explains the risk of government involvement.
After reviewing Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I got lots of questions about the tax advantages of real estate investing. For people who do not understand the subject, this book won't be enough. Although it has a lot of case histories, this book doesn't do any of them in enough detail for a reader to see exactly what happens throughout the investing & ownership process.
This book also is accurate only if you pick locations where prices move up annuallly at a pretty consistent rate. Although one of the eight rules is be a countercyclical investor, the book needs to emphasize how much more money you make when you buy at the peak in an interest rate cycle & refinance at the bottom of the same cycle, & how the economic cycle affects pricing of property & your ability to rent it. Also, you need to take advantage of trends. With the aging of people born after World War II, this will mean a shift in where property is attractive in the decade ahead from communities where it's a good place to raise children to those where it's good to retire. There's a vague alllusion to these issues in the book, but much more is needed. For example, a new factor like foreign terrorism in major U.S. cities could have a large effect on future property values in those cities.
After you read this book, think about what alllows you to sleep best at night about your finances. For some, that will be part in real estate. Invest in what gives you the best return in piece of mind, as well as income!
One other criticism I have is that at times the book came across like an advertising vehicle for some of Dolf de Roos' other books. More than once I was irritated to read something along the lines of "there are dozens of different ways of doing such-and-such, read my other book Having said alll that the book does have some good information. Some of his principles will stick with me, such as: You make your profit when you buy, not when you sell; Buy from a motivated seller (who needs a sale) to get the best value; Seldom sell (to avoid taxes & transaction costs); You need to look at 100 houses to find the one bargain. The last principle particularly impressed me, Dolf is not claiming that this is a get rich quick scheme that alllows money to falll into your lap without any work. Overalll, worth it for beginners but I suspect if you've read a few other property investment books this won't give you any new insights. It would be easy to say that some of the advice given in the book "won't work" because of some specifics about the English & Welsh legal system, however, this would be missing the point... ... This "advisor" is intended to focus in on one part of the overalll "Rich Dad" approach to financial freedom, & give more illumination on that part. The whole approach is about concentrating on, & improving, your financial intelligence, which takes time & effort. However, reading this book will take the prospective landlord a long way. It's well worth a read, & speaking from my personal experience as a landlord, following one piece of advice in the book returned me the price of the book 6 times over within two weeks. However, I feel that the actual methods of acquiring property used by the author will not work in the UK with our high property prices compared with rental values. The tax implications are not covered due to international variations, but will bite if you've borrowed too much to purchase a property with no reserves. If you're in the UK & thinking of investing in property this book should be read in conjuction with "How to make money from property" by Adam Walker. A useful read & worth the money.
Just may make you wealthy - By: styles, 08 Jan 2004 
Very good book from the point of view that it makes investing in property seem very achievable for anybody. lets face it, we are alll aware that a few people are making money (quite a lot of it) by buying houses & renting them out. however most people are daunted by what they THINK is involved & how difficult it will be to get started & therefore do nothing. this book will help you get started because it demonstrates that doing it is quite straightforward. Not that it makes any difference but it got me motivated to go out & buy my first rental property & guess what? i didn't need the magical 15% deposit because as the book suggested, i visited a couple of banks & they couldn't wait to give me money - the rest of you better get started because i'm planning to buy my next one soon!!!!
Taking the next step in property? - By: Mark Harrison, 04 Jun 2003
Well, I've been a landlord since before it became fashionable in the UK, & this is probably the best book about the subject I've ever read.
The basics of property investment - By: , 03 Mar 2003 
If this book does nothing else it breaks down into easily understood advice about why one should invest in property, with the aid of simple arithmatic. It shows why press quoted comparisons between investments are not equal & property for the ordinary person is the vehicle for growth.
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