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Summary: A Blatant Marketing Pitch
Review: Of all the books in the Rich Dad series, this is the weakest. While I had enjoyed mostof RK's books, & found them enlightening, this book in the "advisor series" is long on why to's and very short on how to's. It is, at best, suitable for someone who doesn't understand the benefits of investing in real estate. For the most part, it does a good job of explaining why real estate is an attractive investment vehicle for wealth building in comparison to other more traditional investments. But it doesn't go nearly far enough if you've made the decision to move forward. Given that it is a book on real estate, one would expect that there would be a section (maybe worksheets) that goes through all the calculations & analysis you should run through in the evaluation stage of screening properties. Assumedly, you're supposed to buy the $300 software package to do this. Throughout the book, the author insists that banks are happy to hand over money. However, to get further details on how to obtain such easy financing, you need to buy another of his books, "Mortgage Magic". As an experienced property investor myself, I think he's glossed over many obstacles that will cause problems for a potential investor, seasoned or otherwise. Given that both the financial analysis of deals and their financing are critical aspects of any real estate investment, I find that the exclusion of these two topics renders the book almost useless unless you're just looking for a property primer to excite you to learn more. Assumedly, to get a more complete picture, you'll have to lay out the bucks to buy the other products. Thus, the book, in my view is more of a marketing brochure typical of your more savy corner real estate brokers than a book for those serious enough to follow through.
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Summary: Want to understand why Real Estate is the BEST investment?
Review: This book is for you. Dolf's matter-of-fact, easy style, shows any real-estate investor who is just starting out why Real Estate wins hands down against any other type of investment. Even for the experienced investor -- Dolf has a few insights into how to put deals together that will maximize your cash flow and increase your chances of success. A great, fun and entertaining read.
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Summary: Advantages of Real Estate over Stock Investing
Review: New Zealander Dr. de Roos learned about investing in real estate while he pursued his education in electrical and electronic engineering. A few weeks before getting his Ph.D., one real estate deal netted him $35,000. His best job offer was to earn $32,000 a year. He thought. Why bother? And so began a full-time real estate investing career that led to him teaching real estate investing with Rich Dad, Poor Dad author, Robert T. Kiyosaki. Both played Monopoly as children, and found the real thing even more fun and rewarding as adults. From those experiences, Mr. Kiyosaki reports that 'Dolf de Roos walks his talk.' For fun, they will go out looking at property together in Phoenix where they both live now. "If driving around town looking at properties is a chore for you, then property is probably not for you," says de Roos. 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 all of the purchase price, tax laws that allow 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, and 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, and setbacks during times of rising interest rates or falling 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 and submit offers, shows how to use more of other people's money and time, describes improvements you should look to make, and 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 and ownership process. This book also is accurate only if you pick locations where prices move up annually 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 and refinance at the bottom of the same cycle, and how the economic cycle affects pricing of property and 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 allusion 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 allows 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!
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Summary: Another rich dad series book
Review: This is another good book in the rich dad series, and it shares the empowering perspective that characterises that series.
This book doesn't pretend to contain all the details you need to do real estate deals, but more importantly, why you will be able to succeed at it if you persist. The down points are that it seems a bit like a sales pitch for some of the author's products at times, and that it is hard for such a book to have all the relevant details for real estate transactions for all places. Overall, if you are interested in what has been in the other rich dad books, or you just want to know about real estate, check it out.
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Summary: A very good real estate book
Review: Emerson once said, "The hardest thing for people to do is to think."This book gets you thinking. It's not about techniques. For techniques, read Nothing Down, A Fortune at Your Feet, Flipping Properties or Real Estate Money Machine.What Dolf deRoos does do with this book is what the other books in the RDPD series have done; get you to think. To develop a philosophy. To show you how to become a Ultimate Investor instead of a average investor.QUESTION: All of those great Real Estate books and websites that keep getting recommended. If they are so great, where are all of the real estate tycoons? Hmmmm????Read. learn, apply and succeed. Then come back and tell us the truth about this book.Happy investing.
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Summary: Helped me buy my first 2 rentals + launch myself to freedom!
Review: Kiyosaki's original Rich Dad Poor Dad was the book that changed my philosophy. Previously I was focused on making a living, now I am designing my life. Real Estate Riches helped me buy my first 2 rentals. This book launched me into financial freedom. Thank you Dolf for a really great book.
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Summary: Real profits in real estate
Review: What I like aboout the Rcih Dad advisor series is that the books are written by people who are actually experienced and knowledgable about the topic they are writing on. For example, in this book, we have the great Dolf deRoos who has made a small fortune investing in real estate. He has walked the talk and talks the walk. He has been there, done it and done it again. If your goal is to become a sucessful real estate investor, then I highly recommend this great book by Dolf de Roos.
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Summary: Why you should buy this book
Review: This book can give you incredible insight on what the real estate industry is all about, through the eyes of Dolf De Roos. A very indepth book about real estate that may come off confusing at first, but will all fall in place at the end...or conclusion of the book.
A must buy and a must read!
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Summary: Real Estate Cheerleading
Review: Roos is part real estate investor, part cheerleader. If real estate investing were as simple as getting excited about real estate investing then we'd read this book, leave our 9-5s, and, ahhh, riches. Real Estate Riches inspires me to invest in real estate the way Bruce Lee inspired me as a kid to become a kung fu master. It's great to dream about, but the hard work between the dream and the reality is usually enough dissuade.
His basic plan-of-action is 1) use as little of your money as possible and as much of the bank's money, to, 2) --he skips this part about how hard it is it find and identify a positive cash flow property, then, 3) buy a place that continues to increase in value, while it simultaneously delivers cash in your pocket each month, and finally, 4) when you need more money to invest, drain the equity from your property and repeat.
I think the best advice he gives, and the one insight you might find to be part of the real work of real estate investing, is the 100:10:3:1 rule. Look at _100_ properties, make offers on 10, negotiate financing on 3, and you MAY buy 1. Real estate investing is hard work. Roos show you all of the glamour, but little of the daily grind that's involved to make it happen for yourself.
For a more balanced approach see Real Estate Investing, 4th edition by McLean and Eldred.
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Summary: Good for inspiration but be careful...
Review: This is a good book to really inspire a new reader.
However, its tough to overlook the gross distortions that the author makes.
For example, he makes a huge argument to start the book off saying how you can't use leverage in the stock market. Well, most of the companies you invest in will use debt for you let alone trading on margin. Furthermore, he fails to realize that not all stocks have giant swings.
Thats just what he fails to mention. On top of that, some of the numbers he does use are needlessly exagerated. A 400 dollar paint job? Wake up Dolf, unless your hiring illegal immigrants I dont think thats going to raise property value much.
I think the author does make some good points... but his distortions make me extremely wary, if im investing in property i dont want the glitz and glamour I want to know the risks in order to make an informed decision.
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