Rating: 
Summary: The Best Book
Review: " This is the best book on owning a home free and clear. Rob Roy not only has a cool name but he has the reputation to back up his book. Without a doubt this man is one of the true masters in this field. His book is not only inspiring. The testimonials of average people taking charge of there life is incredible. Run to the keyboard and order this book. YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID!
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Start
Review: Anything that gets people to think outside the box is likely to be a good thing in our society and this book does that. I liked the ideas in a general sense, but at the level of the individual, applying the concepts of the author would require skills, discipline and bearing hardships that I wouldn't impose on a loved one.Living outside the mainstream is tough, not easy. Wells and septic systems make for headaches and hardships. This is all fine for the back-to-the-land type but if what you're after is economical self-sufficiency on a shoestring there are methods that are more practical. These methods still require that you think outside the box but just outside the box vice wayyyy outside the box where this author takes you. The typical 30 or 20 year mortgage in the USA today is a real waste of time and money. Wasted time cannot be recovered and wasting money is simply poor stewardship of hard earned resources. It is possible to purchase real estate in such a way as to have the effect of being mortgage-free from day one not five or ten years from now. I live in an upper middle-class neighborhood, have an average income, and pay less than $200 a month towards my mortgage. Actually, a mortgage is not an inherently good or bad thing, it's just a thing. How one uses the tool of a mortgage is where people tend to sink their financial ship. Anyway, good luck if you're looking for alternatives of your own and I welcome e-mail to discuss the issue. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: Freedom Awaits
Review: Far from being just another book about ways to buy real estate, Rob Roy's book 'Mortgage-Free' encompasses an entire way of life that can set you free from the oppressive, credit induced, treadmill existence that ever-increasingly dominates & enslaves people to debt & by doing so greatly decreases their quality & enjoyment of life. Rob combines Thoreauvian based economics & plain old down-to-earth common sense with wisdom gained from his many successful years of Mortgage-Free living. He offers hope, inspiration & practical, proven techniques to those who would dare to actually take charge of their own lives & realize that there are alternatives to huge indebtedness. Filled with genuinely useful information & examples, Rob reveals not only his own personal triumphs, but also mistakes he has made along his own Mortgage-Free journey & he does this in a very readable, entertaining, as well as enlightening fashion. Buy a copy or use one of Rob's own money saving techniques if you must & check with your local library- Either way I think you truly owe it to yourself to read this book before you set out on your own personal home-ownership journey. Good Luck to you all!
Rating:
Summary: Freedom Awaits
Review: Far from being just another book about ways to buy real estate, Rob Roy's book 'Mortgage-Free' encompasses an entire way of life that can set you free from the oppressive, credit induced, treadmill existence that ever-increasingly dominates & enslaves people to debt & by doing so greatly decreases their quality & enjoyment of life. Rob combines Thoreauvian based economics & plain old down-to-earth common sense with wisdom gained from his many successful years of Mortgage-Free living. He offers hope, inspiration & practical, proven techniques to those who would dare to actually take charge of their own lives & realize that there are alternatives to huge indebtedness. Filled with genuinely useful information & examples, Rob reveals not only his own personal triumphs, but also mistakes he has made along his own Mortgage-Free journey & he does this in a very readable, entertaining, as well as enlightening fashion. Buy a copy or use one of Rob's own money saving techniques if you must & check with your local library- Either way I think you truly owe it to yourself to read this book before you set out on your own personal home-ownership journey. Good Luck to you all!
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring!
Review: Find the answer to that burning question in this book, "Mortgage Free" by Rob Roy. I'm not exactly sure what I expected, but my expectations were more along the lines of a real estate or finance book. The title of the book threw me. In reality this is more of a book about building your own house at a low cost, therefore not needing to get a mortgage and a whole lifestyle of low cost living and low impact on the earth. Paul Terhorst's book "Cashing in on the American Dream" is also about living without a mortgage but from a totally different perspective. Here the author Rob Roy, which by the way is a great name, writes about keeping your house small and simple to reduce the costs. He writes of his own experience of lving in a temporary shelter before you build your own house. In his case this was a 12x16 foot shed. He even tells of using printer's plates as roofing material. Not many wifes and kids are going to want to live in a 12x16 shed. The author is a frugal, and conservative environmentalist and writes of that lifestyle. He lives on $5,000 a year of his savings and does not work at a job per se. The author is frugal, cheap, or what ever you want to call it and apparently it works for him and his family. Will it work for everybody, I think not. His job is building houses and writing about it. I did enjoy the book and it was easy to read. It was a learning experience for me and a few of the ideas in the book might be useful, but I'm not ready to sever the electric grid line just yet. There is a very nice appendix in the book with building schools listed as well as an extensive bibliography. This is the first book that I've read of the author, but I would consider others. `I'd also recommend the Les Shur book "Finding Country Properties", the Rlaph Turner book and the Joe Dominquez and Vicki Robin book, "Your Money or your life". If you liked "Mother Earth News" and "Whole Earth Catalog" you'll probably enjoy this book also. On the other hand if you drive a Hummer and live in suburbia with your 2.5 kids, this might not be your cup of tea.
Rating:
Summary: Don't accept the Death Pledge - there is another way
Review: First off, this book is not for the typical American Consumer. If you can't wait for anything you want (but have to have it NOW), if you spend hours staring blankly at the Idiot Box, if you tend to accept ideas simply because everybody else accepts them, then you probably will indeed find the contents of this book to be "radical". On the other hand, if you are independent minded, don't mind waiting for something worthwhile, can handle some discomfort, enjoy doing things with your own hands, and are completely repulsed by the idea of spending the rest of your life paying the bank for a cookie-cutter tract house, you need to read this book. Rob Roy has long been a familiar name in the world of alternative construction methods, yet the ideas presented in this book are applicable to any style of construction, from stick-framing to whatever you can imagine. This is a distillation of Mr. Roy's many years of mortgage-free building projects. Not exactly a how-to book in the sense of the actual building itself, it is, as the title suggests, a series of strategies on how to save money and keep the bank out of your project, from finding and buying land, to building a temporary shelter, to designing & building the house itself. The second half of the book tells the stories of various folks who have actually pursued these strategies, and the various successes and pitfalls they encountered. THIS IS A VERY EMPOWERING BOOK. While reading it you will begin to feel a rising sense of excitement as it dawns on you that YOU ACTUALLY CAN DO THIS. Visit www.cordwoodmasonry.com to order the book direct.
Rating:
Summary: Don't accept the Death Pledge - there is another way
Review: First off, this book is not for the typical American Consumer. If you can't wait for anything you want (but have to have it NOW), if you spend hours staring blankly at the Idiot Box, if you tend to accept ideas simply because everybody else accepts them, then you probably will indeed find the contents of this book to be "radical". On the other hand, if you are independent minded, don't mind waiting for something worthwhile, can handle some discomfort, enjoy doing things with your own hands, and are completely repulsed by the idea of spending the rest of your life paying the bank for a cookie-cutter tract house, you need to read this book. Rob Roy has long been a familiar name in the world of alternative construction methods, yet the ideas presented in this book are applicable to any style of construction, from stick-framing to whatever you can imagine. This is a distillation of Mr. Roy's many years of mortgage-free building projects. Not exactly a how-to book in the sense of the actual building itself, it is, as the title suggests, a series of strategies on how to save money and keep the bank out of your project, from finding and buying land, to building a temporary shelter, to designing & building the house itself. The second half of the book tells the stories of various folks who have actually pursued these strategies, and the various successes and pitfalls they encountered. THIS IS A VERY EMPOWERING BOOK. While reading it you will begin to feel a rising sense of excitement as it dawns on you that YOU ACTUALLY CAN DO THIS. Visit www.cordwoodmasonry.com to order the book direct.
Rating:
Summary: READ THIS NOW ! ! !
Review: HERE IT IS FOLKS! America 101... To say this book is radical in a negative sense would be an insult to the backbone of this country. The author Rob Roy "REMINDS" us that we have two strong hands----to accomplish anything we desire! Ahhhh...America..."land of the free and home of the brave" Yeah right! Most of us are sissy-babies! We cannot handle a book like this. That's right, I said sissy-baby! The thought of NO MORTGAGE scares the hell of most people. WHY!?!?! Because it GOES AGAINST THE MASSES! That's why. We are an image conscious nation - when we should be a character-conscious people! I read this book one night in Borders. It disturbed me and moved me very much. I realized that at least for my "line of thought" regarding a home - I had settled. That night I made a decision at 30 years old to follow the principles in this book. I am married and have been renting for 3.5 years. My wife and I purchased 2.1 Acres and have been living in a tent for two months now. I have no running water - but designed a hot shower system. I have a firepit, a toilet (which I bought for $9.99 at a hunting store), and my wife is as happy as ever! We have chosen a design and will build in the spring. It will probably take us about 18 months to finish. After reading this book I realize that not everyone will choose to be mortgage-free - but ANYONE could be MORTGAGE FREE. REMEMBER, DON"T FOLLOW THE MASSES - It will make you POOR! Thanks Rob for your book and your vision! Adam Edwards
Rating:
Summary: Enter a New World
Review: Most people go through their lives blindly following a set way of accomplishing the act of living. A few question that path. Rob Roy has produced a book that can lead to a profound change in doing life. If you want to step out of the normal and to reexamine the way most people go about finding and buying shelter then read this book. Based on a few simple and old ideas, this book leads you down a path toward financial independence. How to acquire shelter and not end up owing your life to financial institutions is a mind opening exercise, well worth the price of this book. Step by step he teaches you how he accomplished his goal of mortgage free living. Even more importantly he encourages the reader to do the same. What would you do if you had a mortgage free home? Following his strategies could open up a whole new world for the reader. A world of infinite possibilities!
Rating:
Summary: A Radical Idea and an Excellent Resource
Review: Once in a while, I read a book that makes me question something I always took for granted. For example, it was Ageless Body, Timeless Mind by Deepak Chopra that showed me people don't have to grow old and brittle before they die. It was Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki that taught me what it really means to be rich. And I credit Mortgage-Free!, by Rob Roy, with being the book that proved how people can own a comfortable, beautiful home without taking out a mortgage. I decided to read Mortgage-Free! because the title intrigued me. Little did I know that it would be such a fantastic book, or that it would relate so closely to the theme of my website, SustainableWays.com (for which this review was originally written). I always thought that having a house was synonymous with having a mortgage. But when you really think about it, a mortgage is not much of a good deal. The author shows how most people who take out a mortgage end up paying nearly three times as much as the house they live in is worth. Even worse is the inevitable nature of debt as a work trap: "An unholy percentage of American men and women are working largely for their houses, at jobs they would not choose were pay not the overriding consideration. I spent nearly five years at that game, surrounded by co-workers caught in the mortgage trap. My escape was made possible largely by our mortgage-free home." -Rob Roy, Mortgage-Free! It's the author's own experiences in walking the talk that really makes this book and excellent investment. Yes, the ideas may seem outrageous, but Rob Roy makes it undeniable that they are, in fact, do-able. Not only does he describe his own 25-year success in building and owning mortgage-free homes, but he also provides a number of examples of others doing the same thing. On top of that, this book is rich with book recommendations, phone numbers, and other starting points. Basically, he covers every base so well that the only reason you'd have NOT to follow his advice is down-right laziness. This book will best serve people who are independent, open-minded, and logical. But if you're a die-hard conformist that scoffs at anything unconvential, then this book is not for you. Even though the ideas and methods presented in Mortgage-Free! will be most useful to people living or willing to move to rural areas, anyone can benefit from the knowledge provided in this book. Even now, as I'm flipping through it, I'm continually amazed at how helpful and thorough this book really is. It touches on everything from eating well, to helping the environment, going to college, and so on. This is definitely a holistic, integrative piece of work. Ultimately, this is a book I felt I had to buy because of its usefulness as a reference. If you read it more than once, you'll realize that Mortgage-Free! isn't really about owning a home. Even if you don't end up owning or building a house, this book will have served you well in that it'll have made you question something that you normally would've accepted. Avoiding a mortgage is just one of the many aspects of a better way to live: On your own terms.
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