Product Description

An all–time bestseller, Dolf de Roos’s classic Real Estate Riches shows you how to find great deals and make great profits in the real estate market. You’ll learn why real estate is such a reliable moneymaker and how to achieve the biggest return possible on your investment. Full of time–honored wisdom, proven tactics, and quick–and–easy tips, this book shows you how to find the best properties with the most potential, analyze deals, negotiate and submit offers, effectively manage properties, and dramatically increase the value of your real estate without spending much money. If you want to be your own boss and quit the nine–to–five life, Real Estate Riches shows you how.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #234738 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From the Back Cover
"Dolf makes real estate investing simple and accessible to anyone who has the will to succeed. He is an All Star in his field!"
—from the Foreword by Alex Rodriguez, 2003 AMERICAN LEAGUE MVP

An all–time bestseller, Dolf de Roos′s classic Real Estate Riches shows readers from all walks of life how to find great deals and make great profits in the real estate market. This compelling book reveals why real estate is such a reliable moneymaker, and how novice investors, and old pros alike, can achieve the biggest return on their investment.

Full of time–honored wisdom, proven tactics, and quick–and–easy tips, Real Estate Riches will show you how to find the best properties, analyze deals, negotiate and submit offers, effectively manage properties, and dramatically increase the value of your real estate without spending much money. Dolf de Roos shows you:

• Why real estate is the best investment in the world
  
• How you can consistently find great deals
  
• The eight golden rules of real estate investing
  
• How to use tax laws to subsidize your investments
  
• How to create income using OPM (other people′s money)
  
• The pros and cons of residential versus commercial investing
  

Author Dolf de Roos is proud to say he′s never had a real job in his life—because real estate pays him better. Following his powerful and proven strategies, you too can leave the nine–to–five life behind.

About the Author
DOLF DE ROOS, PHD, is a successful international real estate investor and a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. He frequently conducts seminars across the nation and throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Europe. He is also Chairman of the public real estate investment company Property Ventures Limited.

Customer Reviews

Advantages of Real Estate over Stock Investing
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!

Ouch my neck aches
The content of Real Estate Riches is very American, and this book often refers to the USA Tax system. Having said that, it really opens up your mind to the opportunities that exist now.
This is not a 'get rich quick' book. Mind you if I had known what I know now, back in 1992, I would be a multi millionaire (echo's of Del Boy). Well this book has inspired me to take action.(better late that never).
I have read a few books by Robert T. Kiyosaki, the best known is Rich Dad Poor Dad, in which this subject is mentioned. Real Estate Riches is one step further and more in depth than the others.
My only gripes are that ebooks are a pain to read, you can't forward the ebook to another PC eg work. You can't print any of it off either, e books are a pain. But the book its self is great.

Great inspiration
The book is certainly an insight into property investing, and why propertyt is a good vehicle for financial reward. After considering a few options I have decided to pursue property and have not looked back. A few colleaugues have gone down the stock market route and my investment growth far outstrips their's, with a fraction of the hassle. Yes it is risky (any investment is), but this book is a roadmap of the pitfalls. I read it again and again, it is an excellent reference book.