Rating: 
Summary: If you are green this is a good book
Review: This is an excellent book that realistically shows you how you can build a nest egg by investing a reasonable amount of money and time in rental properties. It's basically targeted at people who want to get into rental properties without quitting their jobs. The author's realistic outlook combined with the author's diligence in explaining pros and cons when discussing subjects makes this a very credible book. The approach is building wealth though power of time and not though any get rich quick sort of stuff. There is nothing magical that the author reveals - and that is precisely the point. After reading this book you will know that you too can build a nest egg with ordinary effort.
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Summary: This book is well worth it for beginners
Review: This very handy little book is very direct about what to do to get started with buying proterty and the kinds of loans which may be available. The loan section alone was worth the price of the book buy itself. This book will get you started on the path to investing in real estate. I do agree with another reviewer that the property management section didn't have as much as I wanted, but this book has substance in the form of examples and straight forward explainations. Many of the recent negative reviews seem to be simply promotions for other very much more expnsive programs. (The Carlton Sheets set alone costs over several hundred dollars! And it's difficult to know the quality since it's not available to be reviewed on Amazon.com, think about that.) Face it, for the small price of this book, nobody could reasonably expect to be told how to do EVERYTHING in related to making money in Rental Houses, but this has all of the basics and is a good start. Also, because of the clarity and simplicity with which it is written, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in rental houses as a longterm investment.
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Summary: Informative book!
Review: I enjoyed this book! I actually spent an hour at my local bookstore perusing the real estate books, and spent the second hour engrossed in this practical guide. Suzanne Thomas writes in an easy-to-read style. As a new landlord I find myself referring to her book often on the in's and out's of having a rental. I appreciated her conservative approach. I have read quite a few real estate books and felt "Rental Houses for the Successful Small Investor" gave the most practical advice. Why some of the disparaging reviews is beyond me. Maybe someone out there has his own axe to grind.
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Summary: Fantastic Introductory Book on Investing in Rental Homes
Review: Having just read several books on real estate investment, I was reacting negatively to the "lots of hype" and high risk approaches. I found a review of Thomas' book on the internet at bainvestor and an interview with Thomas. They were so favorable, that I purchased the book. Thomas takes a low risk, longer view approach that can easily be adapted if you prefer a higher risk to reward ratio. What I found very helpful as someone considering beginning in real estate investment was her practical down-to-earth, "I've been there" approach. This book is full of gems based upon real life; I never found myself wondering if there more fiction than fact (as I did reading several other popular books). I particularly found her discussion of calculating rate of return and 1031 tax deferred exchanges helpful. The discussion of lease clauses was also enlightening (I've written several before for organizations of which I am a member). As the fourth or fifth book I've read now, I'm trying to decide upon what approach I want to take. This book is great input. If you are thinking about investing in real estate, then I'd highly recommend this book. It should be part of your working library on the subject!
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Summary: Good basic straightforward discussion
Review: This book is a great starting point for those who are interested in investing but don't have the desire for the high risk rehab world. Being one who fell into being a landlord rather than by design, I wish I would have had this prior to starting.
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Summary: An Insightful Read
Review: As the introduction clearly states, this book is designed to help beginning and small investors discover financial success in the world of real estate. A real estate novice myself, I found this work to be extremely insightful. Ms. Thomas' writing style is enjoyable and efficient, and she clearly tells the reader everything they need to know about investing in rental houses. She uses many of her own personal business experiences in order to discuss specific points, and she explains the logistics of owning rental houses in a clear and thoughtful manner. Thankfully, this is not a "get rich quick" book. One will surely appreciate Ms. Thomas' pragmatic business approach, as she encourages the reader to set realistic goals and to plan for success. This book has instilled in me both the confidence and the awareness to succeed in the world of rental real estate.
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Summary: Best I've found yet
Review: This is the best book for the serious real estate investor that I've found yet. Read it and use it to expand your portfolio of homes.
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Summary: Very, very basic stuff here. There are better books
Review: The real estate and tax information is so very basic. Mark Haroldson covered this in more detail over 26 years ago in his classic; "Wake Up The Financial Genius Within You."Suzanne, nice effort, But way too basic.
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Summary: Very helpful -- I don't understand the bad reviews!
Review: I bought this book because I was disappointed by David Schumacher's "Buy and Hold" book, which did nothing other than tout the virtues of real estate and slam other forms of investment (with great redundancy). Thomas's book gets into the specifics and the process of buying and renting real estate early and the book and maintains its integrity throughout (after a thankfully brief comparison of real esate investing to other investment strategies). Having read this book (and having no experience with real estate prior), I feel that I understand exactly what I am about to get into and what my next steps are. I am very glad I book this book! (It's also well written, by the way).
Rating:
Summary: Good intro book for those learning about rental investments
Review: I liked this book because it provides a good overview and introduction to rental investments. I had never considered owning rentals because I figured it would be more profitable for me to invest in the tech firms I worked for. But over the past decade, I noticed that a co-worker had done better with several rental investments than I had with my speculative tech investments. Because I didn't know anything about real estate investing, I asked my co-worker for advice and was told to read this book. I found the book easy to read, liked the good overview it provided, and wished that I had read it years ago. Although I have since read more specialized books on real estate, Rental Houses covered the basics and was a good first book to read. I am glad that my real estate savvy co-worker recommended this book, and am now recommending the book to my other friends.
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