Rating: 
Summary: A must have for serious investors
Review: Anyone who is serious about investing in real estate should add this book to their library. It's simple and to the point about focusing on the actual part of real estate investing that makes sense: Making money! Not a gimmick! I read the book twice and there were a few references to "gimmick gurus" but they seemed less like endorsements and more like recommendations. When I started this book 2 weeks ago I had no experience or property. After reading the book twice and slowly applying what I have learned throughout I made 8 offers, and closed on a property that is in a developing section of the city. Of all the books I have read in real estate, this book is the one that convinced me that I can succeed in Real Estate, and motivated me to actually start investing.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic read
Review: As a beginner to real estate investing, I have been trying to absorb as much information as possible. This is the 4th book I have read on investing, and it is by far the best. The book does not promise overnight succes, but it does show you how to slowly build assests, and create a stream of income that you can live off of over a period of time. They give stories that they describe as not being typical, but they do help you stay motivated. They also provide easy to follow examples, and charts. I have noticed alot of people who have rated this book poorly seem to have too large of an ego to admit they learned something from someone else. Dont let the negative reviews sway you. If you only have limited time, and only want to read one book, make it this one. The title couldnt be more accurate.
Rating: 
Summary: Garbage in, Garbage out
Review: As other reviewers have noted, the essence of this book is:
1. Buy a property very cheaply.
2. Rent it out so that you make a profit.
3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 above over and over.
4. Live a charmed life and wait for the paychecks to keep arriving in the mail each month.
Reality problems:
1. Finding foreclosures is difficult in this real estate market since any foreclosures that are not total disasters will be snapped up super fast.
2. Finding families on the verge of bankruptcy has to be as miserable a career as ambulance chasing. The authors try their best to sugar coat the fact that they are urging you to benefit from other peoples' misery. But no amount of sugar coating can cover up the fact that their advice is the same as ambulance chasers.
3. Asking real estate brokers to take their fee in a mortgage-like payment will usually get you laughed at right out of the brokers' offices. They often see suckers trying to use this program. Word to the wise: they don't fall for it (unless they have a lack of brain cells) because they want their money front and center, not bits and pieces of it for the next 10 or so years.
4. Finding something "cheap" in most of the major cosmopolitan areas is nearly impossible these days. If something is cheap in a hot market, that means either that the neighbors are members of a drug cartel or that there is a nuclear waste facility under the property. Unless you're buying sheds in the middle of the boondocks, nothing is cheap these days.
5. What about taxes, insurance, renovations, bad tenants, natural/man-made disasters and their effects on your property? Well, the authors pay some lip service to these concerns, but otherwise they don't worry too much about it.
The only thing of real value is the explanation of calculating ROI and some charts that you on your own can make into Excel spreadsheets. It also teaches you some accounting and home buying basics. Of course, you can get the exact same basics for free on many different websites.
Save yourself the cost of this book. Buying it just makes the authors even more fabulously wealthy and encourages them to write more books for unsuspecting audiences.
Rating:
Summary: Tremendous
Review: Easily the best real estate investing book I've read. This is a no-nonsense, very practical look at how to buy single-family homes and rent them out. It's a page-turner, it doesn't get lost in the details yet is descriptive enough for people to get started. The authors' philosophy is to generate an income stream through renting your properties, and then use the properties as leverage for buying subsequent properties. They basically advocate NEVER selling them unless they're not profitable.As other reviewers have pointed out, the sections on negotiating are excellent and should not be taken lightly. The techniques they describe were eye-opening, I was shocked at how they might be used, or used against me! To many, the section on negotating may even be more useful than the rest of the book. To further motivate you to get started, the book includes 8 chapters at the end, each representing one week, that describe exactly what to do in your first 8 weeks of getting started. Very well written, i've already recommended this book to several others. The authors correctly convince you that the terms of the deal are often as important, or more important, than the selling price. This is because you can still get a good return on investment (ROI) even if you pay more than the asking price. Then, to me, the only weakness in this book relates to financing homes in very expensive markets. The authors advocate only buying houses within a 10-mile radius of where you live. Sure, if you have so-so credit and little money, you can probably scrape up financing for homes in the $50000-$100000 range. But what if you're like me, in the San Francisco Bay Area, where 1300 sq foot homes in decent neighborhoods can go for $300-400k? This is a VERY high barrier for entry. This becomes laughable when the authors describe an example where they bought a 12000 sq foot manufacturing facility for $200k, and the challenges they faced with making this facility profitable when rented. I'm not sure that any amount of creative financing will be able to help some people in markets like this.
Rating:
Summary: Great Info.
Review: Easy to under stand and read! A+++++
Rating:
Summary: Realistic Secrets Shared!
Review: Finally, sinsible information on investing in realestate! For once I feel like I CAN have control of my financial future. This book emphasizes "getting rich slowly", not a get rich quick scheme. This book leaves the reader knowing they can become financially secure if they follow the step by step information provided by the writers. It is full of understandable, doable, and inspiring techniques that can, and will, provide steady income. These secrets are realistic, not just words on paper to sell a book. Thanks to the writers for sharing their knowledge!
Rating:
Summary: Get it now!
Review: Great book for someone thinking about real estate investment. It's very informative and provides a step by step formula for success in the real estate market. The principles in this book
are practical and easy to apply. You don't have to be a real estate expert, just follow the book!
Rating:
Summary: Fact Not Fiction
Review: Havin gread Mike's book, and some of the ridiculous reviews written by people who SAY they have read the book, I must tell you that Mike's book is based on facts, not fiction. I happen to be acquainted wth Mike, very casyually, and also be the author of a book on real estate investing and a long-time investor. Mike stresses what I believe is the most important aspect of his technique--use professional managers! He and I differ in some other ways, but they are trivial compared to this cirtical issue. the difference between an investor and a landlord is that the investor never deals with tenants or repairs, he/she lets professionals handle the day-to-day details. ANother difference is that the investors prosper, while landlords get ulcers. People wo read this book (and mine, too) and don't "buy into" that philosophy will never understand why investing in income proeprties is so conducive to wealth building. They will get focused on the detaisl and problems that ought to be handled by professional propety managers.
I can tell you that Mike actually did what he preaches, and it did make him wealthy. The fleas in the sand who mock and disbelieve will be fleas until they die. Mike soars above them and probably pities them--I knwo I do.
Al Lee
Rating:
Summary: Great Real Estate Book
Review: I bought this book first of all because I am very familiar with Roger Dawson a very respested author and trainer, secondly, the foreward was by Carleton Sheets, the informercial king but also the king of real estate (his informercial got me started in real estate) and third because even though I am a experienced real estate investor, have read all the books, I still found some interesting tips in this great book.This book is excellent. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Lives Up To The Other Reviews
Review: I bought this book largely on the recommendations here at Amazon.com. It was worth the money. This is a fairly good book. If you want to get into real estate investing but are unsure how to start, as I do, this book will be useful to you. The book is broken into three main sections. Section 1 discusses real estate investing in general. It gives plenty of real life examples of properties the authors have purchased, how the deals were financed, etc. Section 2 is Roger Dawson's tips for negotiating. Dawson covers these in his other books and tapes, but they're worth repeating here. Section 3 is the week-by-week guide to getting started. It is like homework for the reader. The book seems to emphasize seller-financing quite a bit. Now, I've never invested in properties before, but how often can you find sellers willing to carry some sort of financing? I'm not sure. But the book isn't relying on 100% seller financing - more like 20% or whatever the bank won't carry as a mortgage. The book also contains a fairly decent description on how to calculate the "wholesale value" of a property. So instead of starting from the retail price (what the seller is asking), you start from how much you can rent the place for and determine price from there. The terms of the financing have a huge impact on price, according to this book. So you can often give the seller 100% of their asking price, as long as you can get favorable a interest rate. Very interesting. I'm actually going to read this book one more time.
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