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Rating: 
Summary: Common Sense and Safe High Profit Potential
Review: Al Lee's work is refreshing on many levels: First, it is clear that he knows what he is talking about based on real life real estate experience. Second, his advice and methods are profit focused without requiring the student investor to take advantage of someone else's misfortune. He also honors the hard working real estate professionals, lenders, escrow officers, property managers, and the other contributors to a successful real estate transaction instead of teaching you how to try to cut everyone out of the deal and still use their services for free. His ongoing support and updated materials available from a website based system is not only unusual but very helpful. His financial formulas are sound and there are indeed properties available that fit his formulas. Congratulations Mr. Lee on herding up some very worn out horses and putting them together into a very impressive pulling team that will, if your students will follow your system, produce win/win real estate investments that can and will produce the lifetime income you promise! Steven Lloyd
Author - Selling From The Heart
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Summary: Well-Written and Enlightening
Review: I have long known that many successful people believe in investing in real estate, but I never really understood why. It seemed to me that real estate values went up and down just like the stock market, so investing in real estate was no better than buying gold coins or penny stocks. This book explained it to me in a way that made a heck of a lot of sense. I now understand why CERTAIN TYPES of real estate investing are far better than just putting my money into a mutual fund. Al Lee explains it better than anyone else I have read, I always thought that people who had tax-free incomes must be doing something illegal. Now I see that it is perfectly legal and not even that difficult to do. I thought the book was great, but I now also subscribe to the free website and the articles Al publishes on the website have added a lot, too. I am now working on buying my first investment property. I am following the instruction in the book and using the spreadsheets and it all works like it is supposed to. I am buying them in another state using a professional manager that Al recommended and they are TERRIFIC to work with. I intend to buy as many more properties as I can. Thanks, Al.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book! Easy to read and easy to follow!
Review: This a great book on investing in income producing real estate. It focuses on three areas of why real estate investing makes sense:
a) cash flow from annually increasing rents
b) tax savings through depreciation of the property and
c) equity gain by the renter paying down the loan. No other real estate books I have read have explained these concepts this thoroughly (and believe me I have read a lot of r.e. books!) with real world examples and hard numbers. This book is not about get-rich quick schemes. We've all seen these claims: "Quit your job in 2 months!", "Buy homes with no money down!", etc. If you are looking for something like that, try a different book. This book is about growing wealth over time. Just like the title says "Income for Life"...
Rating:
Summary: It's About Investing--NOT Landlording
Review: This book gives a very realistic method for investing in income property. It teaches you to be an investor, not a landlord! If you've ever tried being a landlord and dealing with the problems, the tenants, bad checks, and so forth, you will definitely appreciate the superiority of Al Lee's method. I have tried both ways now and I KNOW!
Dealing with good professional property managers (PPM's) is definitely the way to go. I could go an a 3-month trip to Australia if I wanted to (I do!) and everything will run just as well as if I were home. When I did not use PPM's I was tied to a "job" dealing with trivial issues and (worst) tenants.
If you buy stock in GM you don't have to become an expert at labor-management relations, or welding, or even selling cars--you are an INVESTOR. Al's method of owning income properties teaches you to be a true investor; literaly anyone ought to be able to do it.
There are plenty of books on how to be a landlord. If you want to learn a new "job", read them. Having been there, I prefer being an investor and this book is the one that taught me how. I've even joined Al's investor club at RentHouses org and own properties a thousand miles from where I live.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what it seems
Review: This book gives thorough insight into the basics of real estate investing. For those of you new to investing in real estate, it's a science unto itself and requires learning its own vocabulary and methods for analyzing property. This book provides written logic as well as packaged software that allows the individual investor to educate themselves on the fundamentals. As for the first reviewer, no only does he have blatant misstatements (the author doesn't manage properties), but offers negative opinions without referencing one fact to back them up! It makes one wonder what his motivation is! I'd respect his opinion more if he had the courage to put his name on it.
Rating:
Summary: Great source of information for real estate investors
Review: This book is really helpful. When I see the comment of this reader, I can tell that he didn't read the book. The author never tells you to buy in Texas only and even more, he never asks you to let him manage your properties. The book explains why you should invest in real estate, why it is smart to hire property managers to manage your houses instead of trying to do it yourself, why single family residences are the best investments in real estate and why you should make sure to buy properties that will give you positive cash flow. The book even contains a CD to help you calculate if a house is a good investment or not. Then it is up to you to decide where you want to apply what you learned. The author buys in Texas but you buy wherever. I am from California and recently flew to Texas to see for myself and it makes the greater sense to buy there but it is up to you. The book made sense to me and helped me make my first investment. Too bad for the ones you do not understand it.
Rating:
Summary: Not what it seems
Review: This book is strictly for using single family homes as rentals. Much of it is filler. The author is biased toward his niche and slams other investments that he obviously is ignorant about. His method is dependent on the area. In most areas of the country you couldn't get rent of 1% or more of the purchase price, per month, which is what he recommends. Although he includes some maintenance costs in his figures, they are low. Over 30 years you might have to repaint, reroof or replace a sewer line. These expenses are not insignificant. In his example showing the total return over 30 years, including loan payoff, rental and property appreciation, he claims returns of 2000% to 3000%. Over 30 years that works out to 9.5% to 10.8% compounded annual returns. Puts the huge returns in perspective. My biggest bone of contention is the claim that you can have a property manager handle everything for you. He says you can live in Hawaii and own houses in Texas. If you have to go to Texas from Hawaii for a problem, there goes your profit. If you are hands off and let someone else run your investments you will have problems and pay for it in the long run. It is rare to find a good competent property manager, and it will cost you. You need to watch your own investments. If you're "out of sight", you're "out of mind" and will be taken advantage of. And the person arranging your repairs has no incentive to keep costs down. This may work for some people, and if you're comfortable with renting single family homes, go for it. You may not be able to do it successfully in your particular area and would have to figure travel expenses into your return. I'd wouldn't recommend this book as a guide.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT INVESTMENT BOOK
Review: You either get it or you don't! This book is about investing not becoming a landlord. Al's strategies are based on facts and the ability to follow a disciplined plan. This book is not a get rich quick scheme but is based on sound and conservative investment strategies. Al demystifies the many negative stereotypes of investment properties and puts forth a simple yet effective investment strategy. I have read numerous books on income properties and Al Lee has the best system I have seen for growing your net worth and securing a retirement. If that is something you are interested in then this book is for you.
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