Rating: 
Summary: Full of information!
Review: Real estate investing is not for the faint of heart. But this book is well thought out and the numbers do definitely make sense. I am a real estate investor as well as a property manager and own a brokerage. The key is once you buy the property, is to make sure you have good tenants who won't trash the place and put you in a bind if they leave in the middle of the night and you have literally thousands of dollars of damage. You have to not only buy right, but have the stamina to do the management, or hire a management company who can do a good job and you still can cash flow. You make money in real estate going into the sale! You hold on to equity by finding and keeping quality tenants. Definitely not pie-in-the-sky, but rather "do-able". And you need to pick your properties carefully and remember that location is everything. Allen's book is good for those who understand the basics of real estate, but definitely not for the rookie.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy real estate with no money down--it works
Review: Robert Allen has put together all the strategies to buy a personal home or rental properties with little or none of your own money.I bought my first home with these techniques and rental properties. The ideas work. I would also recommend Real Estate for Real People and Real Estate Money Machine along with Brilliant Deductions to round out your real estate education. Real Estate is always a great investment, if you know how. These books show you the how.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Down?
Review: That was what I was thinking when I first heard about the possibility of buying real estate with no money down. I had seen the late informercials and quickly dismissed it as a "get rich quick scheme" designed for suckers.
Yesterday I was in the bookstore and came across Nothing Down by Robert Allen. Earlier that day, I had been contemplating looking for something besides my job to create income. So curiously I bought Nothing Down and read most of it last night.
This morning, I eagerly opened my morning paper and rather than read the doom and gloom; murders robberies and rapes, I went straight to the classifieds and read through the real estate ads. I found several good prospective deals in a matter of minutes!
So I thought if I could find some properties this quick just by reading the classified, what would happen if I really went to work and followed all of Robert Allen's methods?
I am now eagerly looking forward to exiting the rat race with Robert Allens methods. This is a great book. The advice is timeless. I also recommend Mulltiple Streams of Income by Robert Allen.
Rating:
Summary: Still works in the new millenium
Review: The underlying key to making Robert Allen's techniques effective is PEOPLE! Youa re still dealing with people. It is the same now as it was back in the late 70's when this book was first formulated. This is not JBQ talking 1970's personal finance in 2004 when the whole financial world changed from her ideas back in 1980. This is Robert Allen, a real life, real entrepreneur who does not teach what he does not do. He walks the talk and talks the walk. No unskilled mere writer here. Allen knows his stuff and it shows. I had a friend who applied these technique back in the early 80's. He was a Doctor looking to diversify his income via real estate and also take advantage of the tax benefits that were available back then to the ultra wealthy which the democrats unfortunately took away back in 1986. But none the less, he began investing in real estate using Allen's methods. An unfortunate but fortunate thing happened to him. His favorite hobby was hunting. While hunting he got injured to the point continuing his practice was impossible. So he went full bore into real estate and yes I know, the markets came crashing down in the 80's but guess what? AS everyone was bailing out, everything that was out there became very cheap and my friend the Doctor bought property after property. He revises Allen's techniques for the times and soon retired on a 7 figure income. And as we all know, the real estate market came back and when they did his fortune doubled and doubled again. Real estate is always a great investment, especially at times when everybody else wants out. I bleive it was Barnard Baruch who also made a incredible fortune--a Billionaire who said; "Buy umbrellas when nobody wants them and then when everybody wants them, you'll be the only one who has them."
Rating:
Summary: Real Estate is always a great investment vehicle
Review: There are a couple of old phrases that still apply today such as; "Don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and then wait." OR "They ain't making anymore land." What is aboslutely true about both of these phrases is that they were correct 20 years ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago and they are still true today. Real Estate is always a great investment, if you know how. And while I'm not that big into buying land, I do agree that what we have is all that we've got (land that is). More importantly, real estate is not a fad. People will always need a home. And today with more and more people leaving the job market, real estate has never been a better vehicle to achieve wealth. In Nothing Down for the 90's (still applicable for the new millenium) you will find all of the strategies to buy real estate with no money down. You will learn how to negotiate. How to build or re-establish your credit. You will have a sense of power and will be asking yourself why you didn't start this a long, long time ago. And don't worry too much about competition. Too many analytical types are too intelligent to fall for these "get rich quick" deals. Great! That makes the opportunity even better for us who are too stupid to realize that this doesn't work and suddenly eand up with a million dollar net worth, financial freedom and never have to punch a time clock again. Nothing Down was a great book in 1980. It was a great book in 1991 when the revised version came out. And it is a great book today, providing you use it. I also recommend The 1 Minute Millionaire by Allen and Hansen, Multiple Streams of Income by Allen and Real Estate Money Machine by Wade Cook. Real Estate will help you achieve whatever dreams that you are willing to work for. Robert Allen, if ever we meet, lunch is on me! Thank you very much!
Rating:
Summary: Creative financing strategies that still work!
Review: They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery in which case Robert Allen should be sincerely flattered! Before Nothing Down, who else offered this advice? Answer: NO ONE! Yeah, we had William Nickerson's classic (a fine book for the buy and hold who have a ton of money to invest and the ability to fix up a property) but nobody butu Robert Allen provides the wildy creative techniques to buy real estate NOTHING DOWN. Notice that I did not say that Robert Allen invented these techniques, he was the first to share them. Prior to Robert Allen, only savvy investors who picked the brains of other savvy real estate investors knew about these techniques...and they weren't sharing! God forbid if everybody found out how to do this, that would tap into their profits. Thank God that Robert Allen sees things differently. Thank you Robert for sharing.
Rating:
Summary: Great book to read for beginning real estate investors
Review: This book will teach a number of concepts: (1) That deals can be found if you're willing to put in the time; figure for every 100 ads you call about, 10 will be good enough to make offers on and maybe 2-3 will be accepted; (2) How to use more than just your money to pay your down; (3) How to use the rents to pay your down payment by structuring the closing in that manner; (4) How to negotiate nothing down deals; (5) proper terminology to look for in the paper to spot someone who will do a nothing down deal; (6) using bartering items as nothing down money (some letters in back did this in real life); (7) exchanging for nothing down deals (advanced technique); (8) getting short term loans (hard money); and (9) getting long term loans (banks). TWO POINTS NOT COVERED THAT ARE WORTH CONSIDERATION: (1) CASHFLOW: it's important to look at the numbers with rents minus mortgage payments and expenses (typically 30% for rental units). Nothing down deals can be accomplished but many times, b/c no money is put down, it puts the monthly cashflow in the negative. Now, there are ways to work around neg. cashflow per month but, as there are better deals out there, why start there? Anyway, something to watch out for; and (2) LOCATION OF NOTHING DOWN DEALS: growing small areas have way more nothing down deals . .. places like the Calif Bay Area are less likely to have this . .. still possible but you will need to look around much more. Options around this might be having a partner in another area, moving to another area or putting up with less opportunities in areas, such as the Bay Area, which are more tuned towards the value of the real estate than the cashflow. One more point, nothing down deals work best in working class neighborhoods or lower in economic station. It's harder to find it in middle class or upper class neighborhoods unless you're doing an auction or you just find a great deal. I mention this b/c too many starting r/e investors think that their first deal is going to be a middle or upper class home; ironically, these tend to be the worst place to start anyway b/c the rents between a working class house and a lower middle class home aren't too different in rents and expenses. I would read at least 5 other r/e books before starting on my first deal as the more you know gives you a better chance of locating, securing and making a particular opportunity thrive.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Down-90s by Robert Allen
Review: This is an excellent reference work on how to buy properties
at "nothing down prices" . Allen identifies the profile
of a seller who will unload a property for literally nothing
down or very little down. Some buyers buy low and sell higher.
Others manipulate balloon payments up front or at the end
of the mortgage while adjusting the monthly mortgage prices
accordingly. Occasionally, a seller will take a higher price for the sale of a house in return for easier monthly payments.
A beauty of this work is that the author provides specific
schedules which explain the relevant cash flows associated with
different decisions on the same property.
Rating: 
Summary: Another collection of useless information!!!!!
Review: This is another one of those left-over 1980's get rich quick gurus who refuses to retire or die. I found the information totally useless. In fact, I read to the middle, then listed it back for sale at the Marketplace, and sold it!
If you believe that in a seller's market, that sellers are just begging at your feet to carry a mortgage for you with nothing down, on YOUR terms and YOUR conditions, you should read this book because YOU are mistaken. I have a real estate license in Mississippi and Florida and have been practicing since 1999. From my experience, sellers want cash or bank financing and a quick closing, but they are not willing to finance it for you! Why would they.
Also, the book is based on the premise of taking advantage or downtrodden or disadvantaged people. I, in good faith, could never do that.
If you are a vulture with no soul, read this book!
Rating:
Summary: The first book is still the best book.
Review: This was the very first book I ever read on real estate investing. I should have stopped there. It worked for me. There are other good books for beginners in real estate investing, but no other can compare to this one.
There's continues to be a preception that people who use the knowledge in this book to buy property are taking advantage of others. I can say, for myself, in every case that is NOT TRUE! My first duplex was bought with little down when the owner found out I was just getting started in real estate and he crafted a real favorable second mortgage! Every property I have bought has either been a Win/Win with the seller.
While the two previous reviewers both mentioned that the techniques in this book are not for the faint of heart and that they are do-able. I will agree with those thoughts whole heartedly. Real estate investing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Like anything that is worthwhile, it takes a LOT of hard work. The techniques in this are analogous to a toolbox. You really shouldn't drill a hole with a wrench or tighten a bolt with a hammer. The techniques and examples are excellently described with a no-nonsense approach. Perhaps to the novice real estate investor, it can be a bit confusing due to the fact there is some real estate "lingo". The nice thing is the author is good at describing the lingo.
From a personal standpoint most people can (if they try by using the principles in this book) buy good properties for little or no money down. From a personal standpoint, for about every 30 properties I have been able to identify as possible no-money-down purchases, only one or two are seen through to closing.
If you take on the challenge of this book, be prepared to learn how to negotiate and be prepared to handle some rejection. You will learn not to get emotionally attached to a property. By that I mean real estate investors are looking for a positive net operating income (NOI) and a positive cash flow. The author talks about putting all your eggs in one basket...and watch that basket! I am not counting on Social Security to be there for me when I get into old age.
I have two daughters to get through college within the next 10 - 15 years. My plan is to sell off properties I own (bought with little or no money down) so my kids can go to the college of their choice. All I'll need to do is sell off properties, profit from the build up of equity, and pay Uncle Sam what he is due for Capital Gains. And you can also defer Capital Gains by doing what's called a "1031 Exchange". There's a lot to learn here, and this book is inspiring as well. Buy this book. Do just what Robert Allen tells you to do and start watching your eggs!
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