Hi everyone!
My name’s Ian and I’m from Brisbane (well, duh!). I’ve been interested in RE for about 9 months now, and as such have read as many books as I could (all borrowed from the local library!).
Below are the books I’ve read since June. I hope someone will find this list useful
Residential real estate investing : a beginner’s guide
Thornton, Clifton
My rating: 8
Recommended. Quick, inspirational readBugger the real estate agents! : we’ll sell it ourselves and save thousands of dollars
Semple, R. J. (R. J. (Bob))
My rating: 7
Good tips for selling home, but not 100% relevant to investingStreets ahead : how to make money from residential property
Wakelin, Monique
My rating: 7
Makes too many assumptions about the reader, including retiring at around 60-65.Investing in property
Clitheroe, Paul.
My rating: 7
some very useful tips. easy to read, but on the other hand not very detailed.Real estate riches : how to become rich using your banker’s money
DeRoos, Dolf.
My rating: 9
Excellent book! Very recommended. Covers residential and commercial property.Don’t sign anything! : how to protect yourself from the tricks and traps of real estate
Jenman, Neil, 1955-
My rating: 9
MUST READ! Incredible eye-opener into real estate agents & institutions. The author has a very cynical view of the real estate industry. Would have rated higher, but I don’t agree with the author’s investment philosophy.How to create an income for life
Lomas, Margaret.
My rating: 8
Not a bad book, but I felt a bit let down by the fact that the author only has $1.2 mil worth of real estate after so long.Your real estate jargon explained : tricks, traps and insider hints
Bell, Anita, 1967-
My rating: 7
quite useful little pocket book, sometimes humorously writtenSecrets of property investment : secrets 1-5 : successful strategies for creating wealth through property investment
Doidge, Geoff.
My rating: 6
quite vague, but a few useful tipsProperty power
Barnes, Leonard.
My rating: 8
Emphasis on timing market cycles for a buy-and-sell strategy.How to sell your home for more : (and buy your next for less)
Wood, Ray, 1960-
My rating: 7Real money real estate : winning the real estate game
Sugars, Bradley J.
My rating: 9
Great book! Featuring NLP, motivation, etc… More than just a real estate book.More wealth from residential property
Somers, Jan (Jan B.)
My rating: 7
very detailed set of analyises for property investmentMaking your home your gold mine
Crabb, Tony.
My rating: 6
somewhat lameBuyer beware
Ryder, Terry.
My rating: 7
similar to “don’t sign anything” by neil jenmanHow to maximise your property portfolio
Lomas, Margaret.
My rating: 7
i believe her thoughts on depreciation are erronous. a few good ideas in here though.Property investing for lifestyle
Hewat, Tim, 1928-
My rating: 7
More of a history lesson than any thing else. Has a unique chapter devoted to (property on) golf courses.The property investor’s handbook
Airey, Graham J.,
My rating: 8
good book, very detailed where other books are not; eg GSTThe wealth power of property : you can be a property multi-millionaire
Johnson, Fred,.
My rating: 7Property on the net
Airey, Graham J., 1966-
My rating: 6
more of a reference book. quite out-dated also. *didn’t finish this one*The Penguin Australian home buyer’s guide
Humphrey, Nicholas, 1971-
My rating: 7
clear, step-by-step explanationsBuying and selling off-the-plan in Queensland
Blue, Christopher
My rating: 5
too boring to even finish reading. aimed at developers.It’s easy to be a property multi-millionaire
Turnbull, Craig.
My rating: 8
inspirational bookBuilding wealth : story by story
Somers, Jan.
My rating: 7
full of short investment stories from 101 people. good and bad stories.The Australian landlord’s handbook : managing residential rental property
Bilosh, Suzi.
My rating: 7
good book on diy landlordingHow investing in commercial property really works
Roth, Martin.
My rating: 7
mostly about comercial, with a few other things too.From 0 to 130 properties in 3.5 years
McKnight, Steve.
My rating: 8
book about positive cash flow real estate-Ian
I’ll add a few more (and my take on some Ian’s already mentioned)
The Property Investors Handbook
Airey, Graham
My rating: 5.5
Very discouraging for young or lowish income investors at start, but gets betterSeven Steps to Wealth
Fitzgerald, John
My rating: 6.5
Useful reference for growth-oriented investorsStreets Ahead
Wakelin, M&R
My rating 7.5
Again good for growth-oriented investor, especially one in high paying jobThe Millionaire Mind
Stanley, Thomas
My rating: 9.5
Rigorous study of millionare’s habitsYour Investment Property: How to choose it, pay for it and triple your returns in 3 years
Bell, Anita
My rating: 8
Teaches suspicion of REA and excellent due diligence with various checklists! Weaker on cashflow performance assessment and overall strategy (whereas Steve’s has the opposite emphases). Over promises re paying it off quickly.From 0 to 130 Properties in 3.5 years
McKnight, Steve
My rating: 7.5
Very strong on cashflow measurement and a worthwhile addition for the investor who already has other books.Unlock the Secrets of your Money Personality
Smith, Greg
My rating: 7.5
Good gift to the spender in your life!More Wealth from Residential Property
Somers, Jan
My rating: 7.5
Good general overview.Retire Young, Retire Rich
Kiyosaki, Robert
My rating: 7
Explains the basics well. Also motivational.Making Money Made Simple
Whittaker, Noel
My rating: 8.5
Predates Kiyosaki by a decade, and provides excellent overview of various ways of saving and investing.How to Create an income for life
Lomas, Margaret
My rating: 7.5
Good primer, but too much emphasis on chasing properties for their depreciation tax benefitsBorrowing to Invest
Whittaker/Resnik
My rating: 7
Useful intro for someone whose gearing for the first time.Your Mortgage and how to pay it off in 5 years
Bell, Anita
My rating: 6.5
Excellent tips on how to squeeze last drop out of your budget to pay it off quickly. However it over promises for most readers unless they live in country towns, can buy houses for <$150k or less and thus have small mortgages.Peter
Hi Guys
A good list. Here are some more plus some suitable for New Zealand.
Australia’s Money Secrets of the Rich.
John R. Burley
My Rating 8
Recommended. Motivational and full of money saving hints.Your Investment Property.
Anita Bell
My Rating 7
Leads you through all the steps needed to get into property investing.The rascal’s Guide to Real Estate.
Olly Newland.
My Rating 7
An entertaining read on how to make profits from property.Some books pertaining to New Zealand but ideas can be applicable to Aust
The Complete Guide to Residential Property Investment in NZ.
Lisa Dudson and Andrew King
My Rating 8
The title is self explanataryProperty Tax in NZ
Mark Withers
My Rating 8
Covers most key issues of taxation affecting property investors.The New Zealand Landlord’s Handbook
Frank Newman and Suzi Bilosh
My Rating 7
All about managing residential rental property.Landlording in New Zealand
Frank Saxton
My Rating 9
A complete manual for rental property owners. Also has helpful hints re maintenance.Regards
i’m only going to mention the good ones as they’re the ones i remember!
Australia’s Money Secrets of the Rich.
John R. Burley
My Rating 9
I agree with muppet. one of the best books on ‘wealth creation’ to quote an icky jargony termReal Estate Riches
Dolf de Roos 8
as well as educational, it reads quite well tooFrom 0-135 in 3.5 years
steve mcKnight
my rating – 9
very readable bits interspersed with hard-core diagrams and calculations sections. it may be daunting to people who don’t like numbers, but then again if you can’t do the numbers, you shouldn’t be investing.
and besides, there are these new-fangled gadgets called calculators these days….The NZ InvestorÕs Guide to Making Money in Residential
Real Estate
Dolf de Roos and Jan somers
9.5although a slim book, it was the first one i read, after watching an interview with some all-black who’d suddenly got pots of money after being low-socio economic all his life. it was a money programme and the guy was talking about how he’d just started learning about investing and the best book he’d read which explained how it works simply was the above book. i raced out and bought it the next day and I loved how it gave a case study of an average family with some equity in their own home who leveraged it into a million dollars in 8 years (i.e. after eight years they owned property worth 1.8 million bu only owed 800k.) it was the first time I started to really get how property investors use the banks’ money to make money.
Rich Dad Poor Dad
robert kiyosaki
rating 10
i could go on and on about this book – but the main thing i feel is that reading this book ‘re-programmed’ me for financial success, considering that I was pretty much the opposite at the time of reading the book. As soon as i finished the book the world seemed different, and full of opportunities which i started to see everywhere, and which i had never seen before. What i got out of the book was a state of mind I call ‘entrepreneur consciousness’ . Life-changing? well, life is more than $$$. but it was life-changing to me in the $$$ department.The one-minute millionaire
Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen
rating 10So much more than a $$$ book. On one of the first pages, they say ‘the object of this book is to create one million enlightened millionaires (who give 10 percent to the community.) we believe this has the potential to change the economic future of the entire world.’
After reading about the number of jobs the average millionaire creates (6) and thinking about the increased energy to the economy, I can totally see that being possible. they further explain this ‘butterfly effect’ as it’s called.
the book also aligns the ideas of wanting to be wealthy with living in integrity with the world and doing only good, which was a biggie for me.
Also, it’s just plain old empowering. the rubber band trick alone (put a band on your wrist and snap it every time you have a negative self-image thought, wearing it every day for 30 days without taking it off) was worth the purchase price.
I have to admit that my rubber band was a ‘virtual’ one, but it worked just as well, and i can now go for days without internal dialogue telling me I am not good enough or whatever!
i also love the two books in one thing, and you can read either or both – the novel, or the non-fiction. both present the same info in a different way.
cheers-
minithanks ian, peter, muppet and mini
looks like i have a few more books to get a hold of. great contribution from you all.
regards westan
yes- thanks to everyone! What an interesting post
More please!kay henry
Hi there,
Now if I could just leverage my time and pay you all to read the books for me and automatically telepathically deliver it into my memory banks [
].I’ve just bought the ‘One Minute Millionaire’ from Whitcoulls and after having a fellow forum member read it to me before bed time [
] I thought it was well written, inspiring and well worth it’s money.Ian from Brissy, thanks for sharing all the books you’ve read. When you actually do the investing, I’d be interested to know, which book has the teachings that you applied with your investing, and came to the forefront of your mind whilst you were negotiating the deal.
Thanks all, for sharing the books that meant something to you. It helps everyone cut to the chase, save their money, and just pick the one’s that were most inspirational.
Cheers
Sooshie []When a problem is created the solution is created simultaneously
more books to purchases….lol can we trade books, im serious [
]Hi SIS
Have you tried looking at ebay or http://www.trademe.co.nz for property books. I’ve bought one of Napolean Hill’s books from trademe for only a few dollars.
Other books which I would like to add to my library have gone for more than I was willing to pay. But I keep looking.
Regards
Sooshie,
The thing about me and books is, I never remember what I learnt where. All I know is that over the last 6 months I’ve:
a) read 29 books
b) learned a lot Sorry it’s hard to say which books had which info!The other thing I know is that without all that reading, there is no way I would have been able to act so quickly and grab the opportunity that just came my way (I’m waiting till settlement before I tell everyone about it in detail!).
Meanwhile, I can’t stop reading… my current book is “Super Safe Investing in Syndicates & Listed Property Trusts” by Tim Hewat and although I don’t really see myself using syndicates or trusts, this book had “property” in the title so I had to borrow it
-Ian
Hi Guys
Came across this on another forum and I think it makes a good point about reading books.
However, the one good point that was made, that has stuck with me, was on the cost of books – paying NZ$30-50 for a book may seem steep, but every book was different ideas, and if only one idea in the book saves or makes you a more profitable investor, then it will have more than paid for itself. A single snippet on tax or refurbishment can save/make thousands over a short period, if it is new to the reader.
Regards
Hi there,
Yes, I agree with you Muppet, if the book saves you thousands in the long run, then $30 is just a grain of salt.
SIS, reading is great, when you get time for it []
I now have 7 books on my bedside table. I just have to look at them and I fall asleep. If anyone can invent something that will read the books for me and then telepathically link to my memory banks, then I’ll do the marketing for their invention []
Another book which came highly recommended to me is Alan Falkson’s “Investing in Real Estate on a Budget”. I loved it. It’s now out of print, but there is ONE library in Melbourne which it hasn’t permenantly walked out from yet. I can also tell you that Alan is a really nice person to boot.Cheers
Sooshie []When a problem is created the solution is created simultaneously
Hi everyone [
]In regard to property books, has anyone read a book called “No Money Down”? And was it any good?
Lozza
‘Nothing Down for the 90s’ ? Written by Robert G. Allen of ‘Multiple Streams of Income’ and most recently ‘The One Minute Millionaire’ fame.
I thought it was a good read (been awhile though – I like his book ‘Creating Wealth’ better). It’s very American, but if you take out the strategies that don’t work here, it still gives good ways of buying the properties. No money down does not mean no cash, it just means ‘not mine’. Gives a few good tips on how to raise some cash when needed.
Cheers
MelFrom Muppets list
The Complete Guide to Residential Property Investment in NZ.
Lisa Dudson and Andrew King
My Rating 8
The title is self explanataryProperty Tax in NZ
Mark Withers
My Rating 8
Covers most key issues of taxation affecting property investors.The first book can be bought direct from http://www.propertyinvestor.info/ and the Mark’s book can be bought direct from http://www.wt.co.nz
Don’t forget that in NZ most of these books will be available from the library. Auckland Libraries have bought about 20 copies of both.
Thanks Mel,
Couldn’t think of its silly name!!
Thanks for the review.It’s a real pain trying to find some of these good books in Australia… I often end up ordering them from Amazon. It’s not cheap once you convert to Aussie dollars, but it’s reasonably fast at least.
Lozza
Hi Lozza
Yes, this is true. However this is one book I ordered from Amazon, that never came as they couldn’t get it. I ordered it from Dymocks, and they got it in less than 6 weeks!
Cheers
MelSome of the books I have read;
Others still packed away !! As we’ve moved into a new house, painted, repairs, chainsaws- front yard renovation, ½ way through putting reticulation into front and back yard, so busy and office still not completely set up.. Here’s my list..
The one minute millionaire
Robert Allen and Mark Victor HansonRecommended by Minimogul, an enjoyable read especially the parable, I believe the best way to start the day is with a jog or walk too, charges your brain and sets you up for the day . A book that gets the grey matter working
9/10Think and grow rich
Napoleon hill and W Clement Stone – I thinkHaven’t read it for a while, it’s in the box- This book is a classic always being reprinted and it Definitely gets you thinking about the power of your mind
10/10How to be mortgage free in 4 easy steps
Harj GillAlso has a website http://www.mortgagefreeaustralia.com this book discusses various loans and techniques of structuring them to save $
7/10Rental property and taxation
Tony ComptonAs the name implies, variations, depreciations and tax related matters
7/10Ordinary Millionare$
Jim mcnight (don’t know if he’s Steves relly)This book was an enjoyable read by a Uni Professor, it’s about property millionaires and the techniques they used to achieve their individual success stories- I recommend buying it, it’s motivational too, but that’s just me, I get fired up by others doing well, makes me want to do better.
10/10Borrowing to Invest
Noel whittaker and Paul ResnickAgain as the book implies a wealth of knowledge on loans and strategies and usefull to boot
9/10Making Money made simple
AND
More Money
Noel whittakerFirst bought his book at least 10 years ago, they’re that good I’ve even bought updated versions. Gave my Dad and my father in law his Living well in Retirement book for last XMAS. A great read on All aspects of investing, a great financial adviser who pointed me out to The richest man in Babylon another book I’ve given many copies away to friends as it’s plain old common sense and very easy to read
10/10 for all of them0-130 properties
Steve McnightEnjoyed the book, read it in 3 days and it’s lead me here where I’m learning more, very motivational, makes you want to get out there and do it ! actually it makes me want to get Steve to get out there and do it for ME!! He’s much better at it!!
10/10Like i said [i]many others [/i]in boxes
REDWING
“The man that thinks at 5o as he did when he was 20 has wasted 30 years of his life”
Hi Sooshie,
I also read Alan Falkson’s book years ago and subscribed to his newsletter. Do you know what happened to him?????Regards
Spider
Hi there,Yes, I agree with you Muppet, if the book saves you thousands in the long run, then $30 is just a grain of salt.
SIS, reading is great, when you get time for it []
I now have 7 books on my bedside table. I just have to look at them and I fall asleep. If anyone can invent something that will read the books for me and then telepathically link to my memory banks, then I’ll do the marketing for their invention []
Another book which came highly recommended to me is Alan Falkson’s “Investing in Real Estate on a Budget”. I loved it. It’s now out of print, but there is ONE library in Melbourne which it hasn’t permenantly walked out from yet. I can also tell you that Alan is a really nice person to boot.Cheers
Sooshie []When a problem is created the solution is created simultaneously
Recently read..
Wealth Magic
By Peter SpannI enjoyed this book also, it’s been about a month since i read it. not ‘very’ detailed on facts about how to achieve financial freedom, more about how he achieved wealth, as i said though i enjoyed it.
Real Estate Mistakes
By Neil JenmanYou’ll think twice about ‘auctions’ after this book.. heck, you’ll even run from them !!
An insight into ‘some’ Real estate agent’s and their code of conduct ( or lack thereof ). I’m looking forward to reading “Don’t sign anything” Just finishing this bookMaximum Achievement
by Brian Tracy“haven’t started it yet”, funny thing is, it was recommended to me and i went out to get a copy, only to find “it’s popular” , Angus and Robertsons and Dymocks were out in neighbouring suburbs, i had to drive into the CBD to get it.Reading this next..
It’s By Brian Tracy and the blurb states-
Looking for a book to jump start your life ? Look no further. Brian Tracy’s Maximum Achievementis a awake up call to the wonders within us all. It’s straight to the point and straight to the heart.
A step by step blueprint for success and achievement including proven techniquies, drawn from psycology, religion, philosophy, business, economics, politics, history and metaphysics. A book for high performance winners
I’ve also read some short stories by Og Mandino that were inspirational ( packed away now, wherein he talks about how the power of books from the library lifted him to greater heights- running “Success Magazine”, the first book he read was THINK AND GROW RICH ) which i also enjoyed, as it made you ‘think’
]REDWING
“The man that thinks at 5o as he did when he was 20 has wasted 30 years of his life”
].
] I thought it was well written, inspiring and well worth it’s money.
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