Which ones have you liked or found to be total 'fluff'? Several people have recommended the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series but I found those to lack in functional information. K
Hi, stay away from book titles that promise you "real estate riches" or "How to become a millionaire" these books contain total 100% fluff and contain outdated strategies and techniques. For a thorough review and recommendations see John t. reeds review list on over 50 real estate authors and gurus to stay away from. www.wwwjohntreed.com
Thanks all for the info! I will keep checking the post for other recommendations, I have read several but few that I found truly 'worthwhile'. One I did like a lot was "unlimited real estate profit' by Garrison.
I read a book by John T. Reed and he makes a living off attacking other real estate investors. I was on the ledge on the window outside my office after reading his book. I run my numbers pessimistically but I don't like to read books that are so negative.
I think there are good nuggets in some of the get rich books and would hesitate to tell anyone not to read any book as you may get something out of it. (Even Reed)
I found Rich Dad, Poor Dad to be pretty lacking and a big let down for as much as people hype it up.
John T Reed is hard to read. On the one hand, he seems overly obsessed with putting other gurus down and discrediting them on a personal and business basis. On the other hand, he really is exposing some of the illegal activities that some of the "gurus" imply/suggest and he checks on what "deals" they've actually done...
If you are looking for any hard information "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is a big waste of your money. He has a very loud following of people...who have never invested in Real Estate.
If you want inspiration go read a book on Lance Armstrong.
I agree with a lot of what Reed says, but for him to recommend an author, he has to agree 100% with that author. I think that is silly. If a book is 200 pages long and I don't agree with 10 pages, that doesn't mean the whole book is useless.
Its very old now (my 2nd edition is dated 1988) and I am sure there must be something more recent but I still on occasion get out Investment Analysis for Real Estate Decisions by Greer and Farrel. Not much fluff, but not a quick read either. More of a college-level textbook. I'm sure there is something else which is the current standard.
Some of the posters here are ranting about book titles. Don't listen to them. They're missing the point.
The titles of many of these "real estate riches" books are merely a marketing tool, often dreamed up by a creative team at the publishing house or an outside agency. The titles are designed to be sensational, create a buzz, catch your attention, etc. The marketing pros are convinced that outrageous titles sell books. Are they right? Who knows? More importantly, who cares.
Anyway, my advice is forget about the title. It's the content you should be most concerned with.
That said, I notice from your other post that you're looking to invest in rentals.
I recently read, "The Weekend Millionare's Secrets to Investing in Real Estate."
Cheesy title aside, I thought the book's content had some compelling insight and wisdom into the rental market arena.
The author argues that you only need equity and appreciation from a rental. Income is the icing on the cake. I can't say I agree, but he made a strong case for his arguement.
As for "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," on a basic level, I liked the book. No, it doesn't give a detailed blueprint for financial freedom. But what it does do is promote a philosophy, a frame of mind. The author advocates financial literacy, which I wholeheartedly agree with. He also redefines what an "asset" truly is.
I'm currently reading "Buy it, Fix it, Sell it, Profit!" I've heard investors call it the "Rehab Bible." That's a lot of hype, but so far, it stands up.
Bruce, I meant a book by Reed, I read his no money down book where he bashed the concept of putting no money down to death, which Reed book did you like?
I haven't read any of Reed's books; I was referring to his website. I think a lot of investors should stop there and read, before they had thousands of dollars to a RE guru.
Hey monkfish,
I haven't read "The Weekend Millionare's Secrets....", (the title alone would turn me off) but the idea that RENTALS should be purchased for Appreciation and NOT for cash flow is...(trying to find the right word)...dumb. Rentals are about cash flow and nothing else.
Not that I don't like investors to buy Rentals that have negative cash flow...because I am the first in line to buy them when they are being foreclosed on.
I was making the general statement that negative cashflow is stupid, appreciation is a nice gravy in my opinion, but that's just my strategy.
In Naples (where I am) plenty of investors do the negative cashflow thing as the appreciation is currently astronomical (20%+ each year the past few years)
A rental is a different beast than a Rehab or a lease purchase or any other short term holding (less than 2 years).
On a short term property YOU can control a lot of factors and make money. You can fix the property up, etc and create value in the property. You can immediately LOCK that profit in.
But a Rental is different. The value of the rental is the Cash Flow. You can control your cash flow by buying smart and working out good deals. But the value is still the Cash Flow.
YOU can NOT control appreciation. You can not MAKE an entire marketplace go up by 4% or 5% (or whatever) a year. That is all outside your control. The fact that a market has gone up for the last two, three or ten years does NOT mean it will go up for the next one, two or ten years.
Lots and lots and lots of people justify buying poor rentals (negative cash flow) because they include EXPECTED appreciation in their calculations. A lot of books/gurus tell you to ignore negative cash flow (alligators) because the long term appreciation will offset it. You can't control it and you can NOT count on it.
Hopefully that makes sense; I don't think it is my best job of writing.
A rental is a different beast than a Rehab or a lease purchase or any other short term holding (less than 2 years).
On a short term property YOU can control a lot of factors and make money. You can fix the property up, etc and create value in the property. You can immediately LOCK that profit in.
But a Rental is different. The value of the rental is the Cash Flow. You can control your cash flow by buying smart and working out good deals. But the value is still the Cash Flow.
YOU can NOT control appreciation. You can not MAKE an entire marketplace go up by 4% or 5% (or whatever) a year. That is all outside your control. The fact that a market has gone up for the last two, three or ten years does NOT mean it will go up for the next one, two or ten years.
Lots and lots and lots of people justify buying poor rentals (negative cash flow) because they include EXPECTED appreciation in their calculations. A lot of books/gurus tell you to ignore negative cash flow (alligators) because the long term appreciation will offset it. You can't control it and you can NOT count on it.
Hopefully that makes sense; I don't think it is my best job of writing.
I see what you're saying. By relying on cash flow you take the speculation (alligator situation) out of the equation. The only problem is considering interest rates are so low, rents in this are are low also and you'd have to put down at least 30% to make even a minimal cash flow without finding a "good deal"
But then again, finding good deals is how you profit in real estate.
I found rich dad books to be good motivators but agree with you on functional.
Depends what you are wanting to do. For landlording, nothing I've seen beats Shemin's "Secrets of a millionaire landlord"
For investing in general, I liked Whitney's books
Hi, stay away from book titles that promise you "real estate riches" or "How to become a millionaire" these books contain total 100% fluff and contain outdated strategies and techniques. For a thorough review and recommendations see John t. reeds review list on over 50 real estate authors and gurus to stay away from. www.wwwjohntreed.com
I went to John Reeds website. He doesn't like anybody almost....except himself it seems like.
Scott
Thanks all for the info! I will keep checking the post for other recommendations, I have read several but few that I found truly 'worthwhile'. One I did like a lot was "unlimited real estate profit' by Garrison.
I read a book by John T. Reed and he makes a living off attacking other real estate investors. I was on the ledge on the window outside my office after reading his book. I run my numbers pessimistically but I don't like to read books that are so negative.
I think there are good nuggets in some of the get rich books and would hesitate to tell anyone not to read any book as you may get something out of it. (Even Reed)
Good luck
I found Rich Dad, Poor Dad to be pretty lacking and a big let down for as much as people hype it up.
John T Reed is hard to read. On the one hand, he seems overly obsessed with putting other gurus down and discrediting them on a personal and business basis. On the other hand, he really is exposing some of the illegal activities that some of the "gurus" imply/suggest and he checks on what "deals" they've actually done...
His website is worth a read either way.
Hey,
If you are looking for any hard information "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is a big waste of your money. He has a very loud following of people...who have never invested in Real Estate.
If you want inspiration go read a book on Lance Armstrong.
I agree with a lot of what Reed says, but for him to recommend an author, he has to agree 100% with that author. I think that is silly. If a book is 200 pages long and I don't agree with 10 pages, that doesn't mean the whole book is useless.
Bruce, you've convinced me to give Reed another shot, which book do you reccomend?
Hey,
I generally do not recommend any specific books (because there are parts I do not agree with) but here are two that I liked:
"Buy It, Fix It, Sell It...Profit!" By Kevn Myers
"Flipping Properties: Generate Instant Cash Profits in Real Estate" by Bronchick
They are both very, very, very quick reads.
Its very old now (my 2nd edition is dated 1988) and I am sure there must be something more recent but I still on occasion get out Investment Analysis for Real Estate Decisions by Greer and Farrel. Not much fluff, but not a quick read either. More of a college-level textbook. I'm sure there is something else which is the current standard.
Keely,
Some of the posters here are ranting about book titles. Don't listen to them. They're missing the point.
The titles of many of these "real estate riches" books are merely a marketing tool, often dreamed up by a creative team at the publishing house or an outside agency. The titles are designed to be sensational, create a buzz, catch your attention, etc. The marketing pros are convinced that outrageous titles sell books. Are they right? Who knows? More importantly, who cares.
Anyway, my advice is forget about the title. It's the content you should be most concerned with.
That said, I notice from your other post that you're looking to invest in rentals.
I recently read, "The Weekend Millionare's Secrets to Investing in Real Estate."
Cheesy title aside, I thought the book's content had some compelling insight and wisdom into the rental market arena.
The author argues that you only need equity and appreciation from a rental. Income is the icing on the cake. I can't say I agree, but he made a strong case for his arguement.
As for "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," on a basic level, I liked the book. No, it doesn't give a detailed blueprint for financial freedom. But what it does do is promote a philosophy, a frame of mind. The author advocates financial literacy, which I wholeheartedly agree with. He also redefines what an "asset" truly is.
I'm currently reading "Buy it, Fix it, Sell it, Profit!" I've heard investors call it the "Rehab Bible." That's a lot of hype, but so far, it stands up.
Good luck.
[addsig]
Bruce, I meant a book by Reed, I read his no money down book where he bashed the concept of putting no money down to death, which Reed book did you like?
I read Bronchicks book, good one
Hey Ray,
I haven't read any of Reed's books; I was referring to his website. I think a lot of investors should stop there and read, before they had thousands of dollars to a RE guru.
Hey monkfish,
I haven't read "The Weekend Millionare's Secrets....", (the title alone would turn me off) but the idea that RENTALS should be purchased for Appreciation and NOT for cash flow is...(trying to find the right word)...dumb. Rentals are about cash flow and nothing else.
Not that I don't like investors to buy Rentals that have negative cash flow...because I am the first in line to buy them when they are being foreclosed on.
OK, I read his website too and it was OK, his book was horrible (IMO)
Negative cashflow is stupid, I agree with you there
You two are amazing...
Nobody said anything about "negative cashflow."
[addsig]
I was making the general statement that negative cashflow is stupid, appreciation is a nice gravy in my opinion, but that's just my strategy.
In Naples (where I am) plenty of investors do the negative cashflow thing as the appreciation is currently astronomical (20%+ each year the past few years)
Hey Monkfish,
You did not say anything about negative cash flow in your early statement; I read that in to your statement. Sorry, if that is not what you meant.
Hey,
A rental is a different beast than a Rehab or a lease purchase or any other short term holding (less than 2 years).
On a short term property YOU can control a lot of factors and make money. You can fix the property up, etc and create value in the property. You can immediately LOCK that profit in.
But a Rental is different. The value of the rental is the Cash Flow. You can control your cash flow by buying smart and working out good deals. But the value is still the Cash Flow.
YOU can NOT control appreciation. You can not MAKE an entire marketplace go up by 4% or 5% (or whatever) a year. That is all outside your control. The fact that a market has gone up for the last two, three or ten years does NOT mean it will go up for the next one, two or ten years.
Lots and lots and lots of people justify buying poor rentals (negative cash flow) because they include EXPECTED appreciation in their calculations. A lot of books/gurus tell you to ignore negative cash flow (alligators) because the long term appreciation will offset it. You can't control it and you can NOT count on it.
Hopefully that makes sense; I don't think it is my best job of writing.
"buy it, fix it, sell it:profit" and "flipping properties" by kevin myers are informative.........km
I think Flipping properties is by Bronchick, it is a good book
Quote:
On 2004-08-18 03:43, Bruce wrote:
Hey,
A rental is a different beast than a Rehab or a lease purchase or any other short term holding (less than 2 years).
On a short term property YOU can control a lot of factors and make money. You can fix the property up, etc and create value in the property. You can immediately LOCK that profit in.
But a Rental is different. The value of the rental is the Cash Flow. You can control your cash flow by buying smart and working out good deals. But the value is still the Cash Flow.
YOU can NOT control appreciation. You can not MAKE an entire marketplace go up by 4% or 5% (or whatever) a year. That is all outside your control. The fact that a market has gone up for the last two, three or ten years does NOT mean it will go up for the next one, two or ten years.
Lots and lots and lots of people justify buying poor rentals (negative cash flow) because they include EXPECTED appreciation in their calculations. A lot of books/gurus tell you to ignore negative cash flow (alligators) because the long term appreciation will offset it. You can't control it and you can NOT count on it.
Hopefully that makes sense; I don't think it is my best job of writing.
I see what you're saying. By relying on cash flow you take the speculation (alligator situation) out of the equation. The only problem is considering interest rates are so low, rents in this are are low also and you'd have to put down at least 30% to make even a minimal cash flow without finding a "good deal"
But then again, finding good deals is how you profit in real estate.
If you have to put down 30% to make something cashflow, it is not a good deal.
[addsig]