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Rating: 
Summary: Obnoxious Landlords and Poor Authors
Review: As a landlord always trying to learn valuable tips on running my properties I picked this book up intrigued by the
hands off method touted on the cover. It didn't take me long to realize that the few helpful pointers found here
aren't worth the effort of putting up with the authors obnoxious egos. The reader is constantly reminded that it's
their way or the highway. That's fine if it works for them, I prefer to be a little less condescending to my tenants
and perspective tenants. Some of their advice is down right ridiculous. They suggest meeting someone in the
lobby of an office building and letting them believe you have an office there. They don't encourage lying but there's
no harm in letting someone believe what they want, right? I'm sorry, if I handled business like that I would feel like
quite a moron when I was found out.The interview technique is interesting. After writing repetitively about not wasting their precious time on
perspective tenants they suggest an hour and a half interview! And they have the audacity to make it sound like
the would-be tenant should feel grateful and privileged. I have rented several times in my life and if someone
were to suggest I be grilled for an hour just to live in their property I would leave in disbelief. They seem to hold some naive opinions on dealing with people. Their reward system sounds great in theory but it has been my experience that if someone isn't concerned with paying there rent on time they won't be worried about paying the fifty dollar late charge. The only way to avoid these situations is to do as the book suggests and screen carefully but that is more common sense than some author's patented method. There are some helpful tips here but none are revolutionary and could probably be stumbled over elsewhere. I feel a little ... for paying ... bucks for this book, but then I remind myself I didn't pay a thousand dollars to attend one of their seminars, I don't think I could take the screening process.
Rating:
Summary: Obnoxious Landlords and Poor Authors
Review: As a landlord always trying to learn valuable tips on running my properties I picked this book up intrigued by the
hands off method touted on the cover. It didn't take me long to realize that the few helpful pointers found here
aren't worth the effort of putting up with the authors obnoxious egos. The reader is constantly reminded that it's
their way or the highway. That's fine if it works for them, I prefer to be a little less condescending to my tenants
and perspective tenants. Some of their advice is down right ridiculous. They suggest meeting someone in the
lobby of an office building and letting them believe you have an office there. They don't encourage lying but there's
no harm in letting someone believe what they want, right? I'm sorry, if I handled business like that I would feel like
quite a moron when I was found out. The interview technique is interesting. After writing repetitively about not wasting their precious time on
perspective tenants they suggest an hour and a half interview! And they have the audacity to make it sound like
the would-be tenant should feel grateful and privileged. I have rented several times in my life and if someone
were to suggest I be grilled for an hour just to live in their property I would leave in disbelief. They seem to hold some naive opinions on dealing with people. Their reward system sounds great in theory but it has been my experience that if someone isn't concerned with paying there rent on time they won't be worried about paying the fifty dollar late charge. The only way to avoid these situations is to do as the book suggests and screen carefully but that is more common sense than some author's patented method. There are some helpful tips here but none are revolutionary and could probably be stumbled over elsewhere. I feel a little ... for paying ... bucks for this book, but then I remind myself I didn't pay a thousand dollars to attend one of their seminars, I don't think I could take the screening process.
Rating:
Summary: Heartily Concur with "Obnoxious Ego" Comments
Review: I would never rent from these people, and if I instituted their policies, my properties would remain vacant. If your only interest is making as much money as possible while taking as little responsibility as possible for maintaining your property and dictating all behaviors of every teneat, by all means buy this book. If you are content to make a decent living and provide safe, desireable housing for normal people there are a lot of other books available that address what you need to know. Anyone who insists that the whole family come for the interview and then judges their suitability based on how well behaved young children are during an 1 1/2 to 2 hour interview is not someone whose advice I recommend. How many three year olds do you know who are going to remain "well behaved" during a two hour interview that consists of adults reviewing an 11 page (legal size) lease unless they are asleep????
Rating: 
Summary: Covers a niche market: a niche you would not want to go...
Review: Just dont buy this book. I purchased it because it advertised that it focused on managing 1 to 4 properties, the kind of book I was looking for. Turns out it's not. The only valuable information it presents is common sense, and the book repeats those concepts again and again. Information in this book is outdated, purposefully exaggerated at times to prove a point, and annoyingly self conflicting. I agree with the other reviewer who said you feel dirty after reading this book - don't bother.
Rating:
Summary: Covers a niche market: a niche you would not want to go...
Review: The book would hardly have any value to you unless to plan to buy hundreds and hundreds of cheap houses in communities "nowhere near the universities" and rent them out to "meek" people who "work with their hands" and do not have time for "annoying questions". Then, just "keep them in awe of you", and collect the rent ruthlessly. I am just starting out as a landlord. I wish I had not read this book...
Rating:
Summary: Buy a different book.
Review: The vast majority of the authors' properties are in Arizona, which I believe is economically depressed for the most part. Since I live in California, a large portion of what they advise is either illegal or impossible to apply. The Milins know this, and a lot of their advice has caveats about California. In particular, a landlord's ability to evict tenants in this state is severely curtailed compared to the Milins' policies. They suggest buying property in a state where the laws favor landlords instead. While I can believe that some of these techniques may work in the particular market they're in (I wouldn't know since I borrowed this book because I am about to become a landlord), the Milins are clearly elitists whose main sense of pride is in their ability to make a lot of money, and not so much in their personal integrity and general respect for others. Their policies and relationships with tentants, as described, are incredibly manipulative. One piece of advice is only to have month-to-month rental agreements. Around here rental prices are really expensive, and the rental market fluctuates wildly. So I don't see how tenants would accept no lease agreement around here. Their typical lease agreement has restrictions like, tenants can't put ANY holes in the walls, i.e. not even small nails to hang pictures, or to hang curtains. That's just outrageous to me. What are they supposed to do about window coverings? Tenants aren't allowed privacy? The Milins advise that you provide no major appliances whatsoever. Certain appliances one is not expected to provide, like Washer/Dryer, but who is going to provide their own cookstove and refrigerator??? When I was a renter, I never had to provide this and there's no way I'd rent a place if I had to provide my own stove and fridge, because it's really expensive, and I'd just have to get rid of them if I moved. The advice to spend a lot of time up front interviewing renters and going over, line by line, every bit of a contract, I think is good. Also, to spell out everything you can possibly think of in the lease explicitly, is also good but that's just common sense. Put in the time now and it will save you trouble later. Do a credit/background check. Interview, interview, interview. Be clear. Follow your instincts - if you get a bad feeling about someone, don't rent to them. Furthermore, their sample letters are wordy and condescending. Any normal adult reading it would see through this BS right away, in my opinion. The bottom line is, I don't know from experience on the landlord side of things, but having been a tenant for 15 years, but I really doubt you have to be such a jerk to have good tenants. If all you care about is how much money you make, then their method may work, and it may not. I say buy a different book with more and better reviews from actual landlords.
Rating:
Summary: Buy a different book.
Review: The vast majority of the authors' properties are in Arizona, which I believe is economically depressed for the most part. Since I live in California, a large portion of what they advise is either illegal or impossible to apply. The Milins know this, and a lot of their advice has caveats about California. In particular, a landlord's ability to evict tenants in this state is severely curtailed compared to the Milins' policies. They suggest buying property in a state where the laws favor landlords instead. While I can believe that some of these techniques may work in the particular market they're in (I wouldn't know since I borrowed this book because I am about to become a landlord), the Milins are clearly elitists whose main sense of pride is in their ability to make a lot of money, and not so much in their personal integrity and general respect for others. Their policies and relationships with tentants, as described, are incredibly manipulative. One piece of advice is only to have month-to-month rental agreements. Around here rental prices are really expensive, and the rental market fluctuates wildly. So I don't see how tenants would accept no lease agreement around here. Their typical lease agreement has restrictions like, tenants can't put ANY holes in the walls, i.e. not even small nails to hang pictures, or to hang curtains. That's just outrageous to me. What are they supposed to do about window coverings? Tenants aren't allowed privacy? The Milins advise that you provide no major appliances whatsoever. Certain appliances one is not expected to provide, like Washer/Dryer, but who is going to provide their own cookstove and refrigerator??? When I was a renter, I never had to provide this and there's no way I'd rent a place if I had to provide my own stove and fridge, because it's really expensive, and I'd just have to get rid of them if I moved. The advice to spend a lot of time up front interviewing renters and going over, line by line, every bit of a contract, I think is good. Also, to spell out everything you can possibly think of in the lease explicitly, is also good but that's just common sense. Put in the time now and it will save you trouble later. Do a credit/background check. Interview, interview, interview. Be clear. Follow your instincts - if you get a bad feeling about someone, don't rent to them. Furthermore, their sample letters are wordy and condescending. Any normal adult reading it would see through this BS right away, in my opinion. The bottom line is, I don't know from experience on the landlord side of things, but having been a tenant for 15 years, but I really doubt you have to be such a jerk to have good tenants. If all you care about is how much money you make, then their method may work, and it may not. I say buy a different book with more and better reviews from actual landlords.
Rating: 
Summary: My Property Management Bible
Review: This book was the catalyst to my stable 100% tenant occupancy status. The only issue I've had with a tenant was before I purchased the book. All of you who cannot apply your particular real estate property type, market, or interest rates should not get into purchasing property. It would require too much brain power! The authors stress the importance of researching your potentail real estate market, state laws, and town laws. Anyone interested in buying this book would be a fool to listen to those with less than 5 stars. At the rate I'm at, I'll be able to retire in 5-7 years.
Rating:
Summary: The people who conned us out of our house probably read this
Review: This book will go into the circular file, if you know what I mean. It is difficult for me to understand why there are so many people like this who only see others as dollar signs and 'pets' (as they call renters) they can take advantage of. I will NOT be using their con strategies as a landlord. I hate the idea about leading someone to believe your office is in a building but you not even having one. We unfortunately were duped like this except the guy had a post office box that he led us to believe was his 'office suite.' Whatever. Just don't buy this book, instead look for a book that is morally and ethically teaching you how to provide a good service or product in this world and your business will then flourish!
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