Business Money Books

I am completely thrilled with this book, it is easy to read, not super technical, and it's fun yet concise teaching style gets you pumped up about making profits in a very little explored area of real estate finance, pre-foreclosure investing. There are several examples in each chapter giving approximate dollar figures in several hypothetical scenarios, with several different strategies. These figures are a great visual aid in learning how to make profits, and even how to create equity in situations where the buyer has none to buy! The authors walk you through each step of the deal, how to deal with various other types of liens and mortgages, and there are a few sample contracts and agreements. I agree the title is a bit misleading, because it is always necessary to negotiate a sales contract with both the lender and homeowner in case of a short-sale deal, but don't let that deter you, because in these cases, seller and lender will be extremely motivated! What they teach you here will allow you to vaporize the competition, they will walk away, you will be left with the best deal, everybody's happy.

I have bought a ton of books on foreclosures, and top be honest, there are all pretty much the same - vith variations. Short sales are not as easy as they say they are. I would put my money into a book that encompassed all facets of property foreclosure. Probably be better value.

The book has a couple good points, and is probably benefical to a novice pre-foreclosure investor, but is not worth the time or money of any pre-foreclosure investor thats ever closed a deal before. Most of the examples in the book 'window dressed' profits on deals by not listing all expenses involved.

I was extemely disappointed in this book. In the title ........How to Bypass Owners and Buy Directly from Lenders....Yet on page 93 you learn that this is NOT possible as you must have the owners permission prior to ever contacting their lender. I found the title misleading as to the content.

I found this book pretty good.... It definitely spelled out all the details of short sales.... I think for property investors trying to understand exactly what is involved with short sale purchases this book is perfect. The book was written at a level that I enjoyed....not overly complicated.

This is one of the best real estate books that I have read. The reason is that it is a "follow the steps" book and works perfectly for beginners and would probably be equally as good for experienced investors.

Making Money in Real Estate, by Dolf De Roos & Diane Kennedy

Between 2000 and 2004 my partner and I purchased over 30 buildings. I remember clearly it was around the end of 2000 and I went to see Dolf in NYC, and it just so happened that I was meeting a prospective silent partner who would be putting up all the money for our 5th building. As luck would have it I had a P&L to show our prospective partner and during the seminar, Dolf asked if anyone could share some numbers on a prospective deal they are looking at. I did one better, I pulled the P&L out and Dolf went over the numbers in front of the several hundred attendees. His response was, "You guys would have to nuts not to do this deal". I am also the author of a real estate book, "A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate" (and this particular deal is explained in detail in it).

(Dolf was very informative and motivational by the way)

In the first chapter of Dolf's book are three concepts that jumped out at me; and if you can always remember them I'd say you have a great shot at making some real money in real estate. They are:

-Life is about priorities.
-Investing in real estate is all about the numbers.
-"Just Do It"

This one is so true, I just never heard it put like this:
"Every property has cash flow. The question really is, "Which way is the flowing?"

While discussing the concept delegating or hiring other people to do some of the tasks that would free you up to do deals he says, "...the three most expensive words in the English language are (Do it yourself)."

By Kevin Kingston, author of: A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate

I purchased both this title and "The Insider's Guide to Real Estate Investing Loopholes" (same authors).

I have two primary complaints. The authors talk down to the reader, constantly making snarky comments that imply that if one doesn't act NOW, the reader is lazy, or paralyzed, or is somehow inept when it comes to business. That's not just annoying -- it's weird, and it made me suspicious of the authors' motives.

That brings me to my second complaint. The book lacks balance. I'm not saying that all of the strategies can't work -- just that it requires an ideal set of market conditions for them to work. We need to see low or declining interest rates, quickly rising tenant incomes, improving neighborhoods, distressed or at least disinterested sellers, few other investors, low insurance costs, and a plethora of service providers (such as roofers) who do great work at a low price very quickly. I can tell you that we don't have any of those factors at work now.

What we do have, at least in areas like mine, where appreciation has outpaced incomes, is a market turned on its head. Sellers will not sell because they are sitting on huge profits for the most part, and don't have to sell. Or, they believe that prices will appreciate at the same ridiculous rate that they did from 2001-2005. Numerous Dolf-inspired investors have flooded the market and bid prices up beyond all reason. Workers are in debt and don't have much money for rent. Neighborhoods where deals are affordable aren't improving, so the idea of refinancing because you painted and put up a new mailbox won't help you. Easy mortgage money has gotten anyone with a pulse into homes. Interest rates are rising, not falling. Insurance is costly and the coverage stinks. And most importantly, rents do not provide positive cash flow for most small real estate investors. I know several who actually consider themselves to be successful and the news is not good. They are carrying their properties, their properties are not carrying them! I know, it's hard to believe that this is success. But in the past few years, appreciation has bailed them out. Put that kind of leverage into effect and you are leveraging a negative, which only means you go broke faster.

A few observations: First, if making untold riches were this simple and this obvious, then so many people would attempt to do so that it would suck the potential profit from such deals down until the actual profit is more equivalent to the amount of work involved. (More about this in a moment -- because I believe that this is actually occuring in part due to all of the real estate evangelism going on.)

As they say on Wall Street: "When enough people find the key to the market, someone changes the lock!" I believe that most people reading this review are smart enough to know that markets are dynamic. Outrageous profits bring in a flood of new entrants, dramatically reducing the profit potential. If a whole bunch of new wannabe real estate tycoons start lining up to bid on properties, then the prices for those properties will rise, as will the price for the money (the financing charges in the form of interest rates). Even without a lot of new entrants, if enough people start using the same financial techniques of leverage, cost-benefit analysis, or tax strategies, then the advantages to be gained will be reduced commensurately. Common sense and basic real-world economics dictate that costs will rise and potential profits will fall. And so it is in the real estate world.

Economies of scale and technological advancements have changed many industries and wiped out others. The ability for a small business person to get a competitive bid on anything is severely limited, whether you are talking about insurance, waste collection, land, communication services, landscaping, or anything else. Big players have the advantage in negotiations and will consistently be able to lower their costs below that a single investor. They can offer their tenants more amenities and constantly remodel and update their units at a far lower cost than you or me. I can't start a profitable shipbuilding company or TV network, nor can I jump into owning large buidings over which I can spread my costs enough to justify what is increasingly becoming break-even or negative cash flow from tenants.

I am not saying that there will never again be opportunities for small real estate investors to use leverage and tax advantages to make decent money. Just that, with so many of your fellow investors looking to do the same thing, you are not going to find (DEEP BREATH HERE!): underpriced positive cash-flowing properties in undervalued neighborhoods with great potential on which you can quickly close at a dynamite interest rate that result in quickly-rented units with stable, high-earning tenants who are happy to stick around so you can quickly refinance at "massively increased property valuation" (Dolf's expression) so you can pay yourself and your investors back, raise rents even higher and go on to the next property with similar ideal parameters, plunk 10% down and do the same thing.

And no, I'm not an unmotivated individual who works harder than I have to, doesn't understand the value of money, or doesn't want financial freedom. We all want that. In Dolf's world, there are numerous individuals who can't wait to to sell you $100 for $50. My question is, if he knows how to get people to do that, why he is telling us about it? I think we all know the answer to this question.

Don't get me wrong: Eventually, the property marketplace will right itself and investment properties will come up that offer opportunity to even small investors, even with the odds stacked against you. However, it won't unlock some kind of magical door to riches. It will simply be one of many investments that helps you build LONG-TERM wealth. Real estate is just another business that goes through cycles and isn't necessarily any more of a path to fabulous riches than owning a chain of gas stations or making molded plastic products.

By the way, the most successful real estate investment firms in America have had a total return about 23% annually for the past five years through March 31, 2006. That includes dividends and share price appreciation. If that's the BEST they can do, (and I'm not saying it's bad...it's actually an amazing performance!), it's because that's the BEST anyone can hope to do, including you and me. Remember, these firms use all the leverage they can muster and have tremendous economies of scale, and the smartest tax accountants and attorneys working on their behalf. We are highly unlikely to see this performance repeated in real estate for the next five years or possibly, ever.

Footnote: I recently studied single family homes in Broward County and Palm Beach County, Florida. Over the past thirty-five years, not including taxes of any kind, residential properties have enjoyed an average annual return of 9.25% per year. Short-run performance tends to regress towards the mean. Therefore, we are virtually assured that real estate will come nowhere close to its recent performance over the next several years, particularly in a higher-interest rate environment with lots of new supply. Buyer beware!

This Dolf de Roos book is no different from his other books, owning one is the same as owning all. Writes about same topics and ideas. Good author, trying to sell more books by using different titles.

If you don't own any of his books, worth the $20 or so for the book. However, if you do...don't waste your money/positive cash flow


Happy investing

I first learned of Dolf De Roos a few years ago from reading one of his first books that was released through the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series. I have read every one of his books and find his comments about real estate to be "right on the money". He shows you why real estate is the best place to invest and also how you can increase your profits by looking for unique situations. Very valid advice and a very good read. I highly recommend this book.

By Lex Levinrad, author of "What I Learned On Wall Street:Why Real Estate Is the Best Investment".

The lure of easy money in the stock market encourages more and more people to become investors. Mr. Rothchild decides to become one too, and his journey into the financial world is told in this engaging and hilarious book. He does a fantastic job of injecting life into the dull subject of finance and investment. I smile and laugh through much of the book. I like it even more than the classic The Money Game by Adam Smith.

+++++

This easy-to-read book, by former editor, author, and writer, John Rothchild, is a unique and hilarious book that tells us of his adventure as an average investor in the stock market.

Rothchild's original plan for writing this book was as follows:

"In the late summer of 1985, during an extraordinary bull market [rising market], I decided to drop everything and devote an entire year to learning how to invest, especially in stocks. I resolved to begin at the beginning, finding out as much as I could about the business and how it really operates, meanwhile putting my own funds [of $16,500] into whatever would make the biggest profit. After achieving [this] winning strategy, increasing my net worth, and achieving financial independence [or security], I'd return to tell you how I did it."

Rothchild learned how to invest by doing things such as watching late night television programs "on how to get rich;" going to financial planning places with their money managers; reading newsletters, business publications, and historical financial books; talking to successful investors in order to perhaps learn some inside information; and going to stockbrokers for information on hot stocks, making fully-informed investment decisions, and avoiding irrational markets.

During his journey, Rothchild does a good job in explaining the mechanics of investing especially in the stock market and imparting the psychology behind investing. Even though the author does a good job in explaining terms, I feel knowing some basics on investing before reading this book, will help the potential reader appreciate the humor and practical advice of this book even more. (There are over twenty short useful tips in boldface type peppered throughout this book.)

Finally, the title of this book "A Fool and his Money" gives an indication of what happened to Rothchild's investment. As a consequence, at the very end of this book, Rothchild has a short glossary of major investment and stock market terms that he has defined as a result of his experience. He defines the terms found in this review as follows:

(1) Average Investor: born loser
(2) Bull Market: a time when your neighbor's stocks are going up
(3) Successful investor: liar
(4) Inside information: something you wish they'd tell you; what everybody else has heard
(5) Stockbroker: salesperson for stocks, mutual funds, etc.; a person who will never go broke
(6) Money manager: expert who manages your financial affairs; someone to whom you pay a large fee so you'll have less money to manage
(7) Hot stock: stock everybody is buying; what your brokerage firm calls any stock it wants to sell
(8) Irrational market: a market that isn't doing what you want it too; every market
(9) Fully-informed investment decision: wild guess
(10) Financial security: perpetual care enjoyed by insurance companies, brokers, money managers, and others in the financial security industry.

In conclusion, this is a practical and hilarious book that serves as a warning to the average investor!!

(originally published 1988; acknowledgements; 31 chapters; postscript; glossary; main narrative of 250 pages)

+++++

This book is definitely educational and funny! All the tips in the book sound funny but are real. I was laughing so hard from reading this book, my sides hurt...This information although written in 1987/1988 timeframe is definitely timeless! This book was nice break from serious investment books and should not be thought of as less because it is humorous... it kinda reminds you of the humor in the films that Michael Moore creates (although this info is legitimate).

"A fool and his money" is the story of buyers remorse of one very lucky investor, who walked away with 50 percent of his money. Zero game means one person is a winner and another person is a loser. John got a bad taste, as he discovered the hazards of his margin being called and being forced too come up with 8600 dollars, too cover his investments and learned once again the average investor can not afford too invest. Bottom line, the lucky disappear into anomity, no one knows there name only their story; the losers feed the winners; and the winners are always looking for new losers.

John made a few mistakes, acted on weak advice, and held on too long after realizing his mistake. John gave some very insightful information about mutal fund managers. At the time of the book 9200 fund managers were controlling 75 percent of the wealth. John says, mutal fund managers don't outperform the averages because they collaborate between each other on selection. Outperformance is shunned because it distinquishes one mutal fund manager above another and makes the other look bad; and his claim for why mutal fund managers don't beat the average.

The Federal Reserve buy Bonds and use bonds too control the money supply. The Bonds represent assets which banks can loan money against increasing the available money supply to the consumer. If inflation increases, the Fed sells Bonds decreasing the money supply and increasing the interest rate. So, the Fed regulates inflations by controlling the amount of money supply.

This book was first published in 1988, after the 1987 crash. The wisdom and essence of the book is still as valuable now in 2002. It is entertaining as well as educational. The author went out of his way to describe his experience or experiments in various areas of investing, giving knowledge and first hand information on how the investment world runs from different perspectives. The author took a year to study investing and invest with his real money, with the assignment of writing this book about it at the end. As a result, his investment decisions and variety and frequency of his investment may be atypical of an average investor. However, his description of the phychology of an average investor is quite accurate.

Greg Giantforte has a different take on starting up a business. His advice is not to first build the mousetrap, but to call a bunch of potential customers. If you have an idea for a business Greg's suggestion is to ask people:

"Would they buy a better mousetrap?"
"How would they use the mousetrap?"
"What features do they want in a mousetrap?"
"How much would they pay for the mousetrap?"

By spending a couple weeks doing market research before developing a product you have a much better idea exactly what customers want and what they would pay. If you don't find enough interest you've only lost a couple weeks, instead of months and thousands of dollars developing the mousetrap.

Bootstrapping Your Business: Start And Grow a Successful Company With Almost No Money by Greg Gianforte and Marcus Gibson is a quick read, packed with lots of good ideas.

I have been fascinated by out Paul Graham's thought that cheaper computers means startups are much cheaper. This trend continues to accelerate for example Google recently announced App Engine as a service to reduce operating costs for Web startups.

If you are interested in starting up your own business then check out Bootstrapping Your Business.

If you're a fan of Rob Ryan's excellent book "Smartups," then you're familiar with the name Greg Gianforte. Rob (of Ascend Communications fame) uses Greg and his RightNowTechnologies in many of his really great examples. One thing Greg does that Rob made special mention of is the 'sales spec sheet.' As Greg explains the concept "I called hundreds of companies and asked to speak to the customer service manager. I described the software that I had dreamed up and faxed them the specs--just a page, nothing more. Then I asked them whether they'd be willing to buy this product for their company's website."

That small practice was literally the birth of RightNow. In 'Bootstrapping,' Greg and co-author Marcus Gibson start with that point and expand from there. The book's authors take a unique position - if your goal is to figure out how to raise money...this isn't the book. 'Bootstrapping' is about how to cobble together a go-live strategy _without_ having to raise money.

Because the software business won't resonate with everyone, the authors have examples from caterers, printers, dry-cleaners, organic grocers and other businesses to which the 'average' reader can relate. These are types of businesses you frequent in your everyday life.

Mr. Gianforte,



I read the article you wrote regarding Bootstrapping, and have also read reviews and excerpts from your book, and I must say that I am now totally stoked as I move forward in bringing my ideas for a web-based product to fruition.



A childhood friend came to me with an idea for a web-based tool that he is developing himself and asked me to be his partner. We have been in development for the past year, and have debated back and forth on seeking investor capital or not seeking investor capital because we have been approached on three occassions by someone that heard what we were doing and wanted to invest in us. Even though my partner is writing each and every line of code, and this has taken some time, it has given us the opportunity to check out our competition, lay a solid foundation of contacts, and formulate a marketing plan so that when we hit the streets, we will hit the streets with a huge bang, hopefully loud enough to be heard in Montana.



Some days I get discouraged and today was one of those days until I read your article, and thought about some of the points you make on how VC can actually create a sense of laziness or cool the burn to succeed just a little because you have cash behind you.



Well,,,,I am no longer discouraged!! I feel the direction we are going is what is going to make us strong.



Thanks for the inspiration.

Take care!!



Phil M.

This book is perfect for the person looking to start a new business. It is an introduction to the concept of bootstraping, not a step by step guide to starting a business. If you need a step by step guide to starting a business, you probably need more help than you can get from a book anyways. After reading this book, I used the concept of bootstrapping to start my own business that would have other wise been out of my reach. The book teaches a thought process outside of the traditional business approach, not only to starting a business, but for running a successful business for years to come. The review about the book not having any applicable information about running an online business, is way off. That guy missed the point of the book, this concept can be applied to any business. I highly recommend this book.

I am surprised to see so many people think highly of this book. I have a startup for a new software product and am trying to bootstrap (to raise VC money you still need paying clients).
I read this book some months back and was disappointed. Two false things stuck out even now:

1) dont prototype, pre-sell your idea. This may work for service type companies, but may not work for products. Why? as you build the prototype, you will innovate and the end product will be unrecognizable from the idea at the start. This was my case. I had to build my prototype. The customer doesnt know what he wants until it is laid out in front of him.

2) exploit your employees. He didnt say it explicitly or would have been sued for age discrimination, but he says, hire people without much experience, and full of energy ie. young. Then make them work long hours for cheap. I have seen a big name (top three) consulting company deliberately do this strategy and burn their people out. Sorry, that is not how I plan to build my business!

The best book for startups is Kawasaki's "Art of the Start". Skip this book.

This book changed my life! This is a must read for everyone whether you invest in the stock market or not. This book displays the kind of economic and literary genius that comes along once in a lifetime. His points are well thought out and clearly articulated. SCWSWBMMOTNTY is a must have. I hope to one day meet the author and discuss this book over a beer.

If you are investing long term money without reading this book, then you are doing yourself a big disfavor. This book explains so much about economic cycles and how they coincide with stock cycles. I cannot say enough about this book and why I think everyone should read it.

The author goes on and on detailing the past but drew no sound conclusions. Left me wishing he would just make his point. This book was a tedious read.

I wish I read this book five years ago before the bubble broke, I'd have alot more money now if I did. Alas, hindsight is 20/20. However, this is the first book that presents a very logical and thorough view of investment cycles that are clearly present in our economy. Yes, this book is somewhat tedious as another reviewer commented, but the true nature of the opportunities and risks of investing in the stock market are not something that reads like a vapid tabloid story. The lessons available to be learned and applied from "Stock Cycles" come only from studying, interpreting, questioning and back testing large amounts of data produced from the trading of stocks every day of every month of every year for decades and decades. Michael Alexander has done just that resulting in a work available for the layman to the investment professional from which to benefit. Michael Alexander also challenges the investment industry in that it has massaged much of that data to the detriment of the individual investor, ie.: the mutual fund industry and its "buy and hold" mantra it has been preaching since roughly the beginning of the last bull market in 1982. The mutual fund industry makes its money by maintaining a large asset base from which to generate fee revenue. Sure, "buy and hold" works pretty well in a secular bull market, but there have been many times in the past 200 years where there was little if any growth in stocks and the stock market for an extended number of years. And that number of years may be too long for many investor's investing goals to be achieved. Alexander shows that there is large amount of economic evidence indicating that we may be in just the beginning of one of those stagnant, yet unsettled cycles. Though Alexander's conclusion and recommendations on what to do now are vague, I think the overall message of the book is to invest with extreme caution but taking an active approach to investing, take profits if you have them and minimize losses should they occur and to beware Wall Street saying: "It's different this time", 'cause it's not. A must read.

Alexander describes his P/R valuation concept to serve as a marker in substitution to P/E, that has (nowadays) jumped to astronomical values, difficulting the overvaluation/undervaluation analysis.

He also describes in this book the concept of Kondratieff Cycles, although he has a posterior book dedicated only to this subject.

The problems with the book:

1) Equations should be typed using an equation editor, that is, the equations are bad typesetted.

2) As a scientist (He holds a Ph.D. degree) he should present the material in a clearer way to facilitate the reprodution of his results. He should include, for example how he choose the parameters of his valuation model (Chapter 4). In the appendix he gives the parameters but it is lacking details supporting his choices and also some parameters. (for example, what the length of the moving average to smooth the economic expansion parameter n ?).

3) Sometimes he uses English when equations are more appropriated (ex: p.96 "inflation rates over successive fifteen year periods were calculated and examined for the 1730-1800 period" How exactly he did the averages? Centered? Trailing? Weighted?)

So that my conclusion is: Very Interesting Research that could be presented in a clearer way.

Found this book excellent to helping me take action in my personal finances without a financial planner. I may use one in the future but witht the help of this book, I have put my personal finances on stable ground.

What a terrific guide through the obstacles of life's financial hiways and biways! Written succinctly, intelligently and humorously--this book is a must have for women of all ages who are recognize the importance of understanding how to handle and plan our finances to achieve our life's goals--- while also getting us through the occassional bump in the road or traffic snarls that affect our money issues. Easy read and great maps/questionnaires help to keep us on track while having fun too! A man is not a plan -- and small steps lead to big success are positive themes throughout.

Mystified by money? Using a crystal ball to plan your retirement? Burdened with credit card debt? Lacking health insurance? Budgetless? With humor, charts, user-friendly quizzes, and common sense, this book will prod you into taking the small steps needed to get a grip on money. Your money. Earning it, keeping it, growing it. You'll find the scoop on a broad range of financial topics, sprinkled with quotes from the likes of Confucius, Dear Abby, Mark Twain, and Erma Bombeck. Discover ways to put brains and muscle into your personal money management. I found each chapter to be clear, motivating, specific. A great gift.

Flipped through this book looking for tips on getting out of debt and realized it would help me with all of my money issues. (In fact it made me aware that I had more money issues than I thought I did.) Thanks for a good solid guide that I can understand! These authors should do seminars too.

This book has a wealth of information from getting out of debt to amassing a personal fortune. It's easy to read format helps the reader access topics of personal interest quickly and effortlessly. Get this book if you need to take control of your finances or if you know someone who would benefit from financial help and support. It makes a great gift for the women in your life from mothers and daughters and sisters too.

This is a personal finance book you'll actually ENJOY reading!
It doesn't contain any get-rich-quick schemes, nor does it offer any unrealistic promises or guarantees.

What it does do is help you identify your own "money type" (how you use money in general), and then gives simple lessons on how to best improve what needs improving.

Easy? Not exactly. As I said, there are no quick-fixes offered here. The lessons take time and effort. But if you do them, they're sure to work, because they're based on good sense, and an understanding of how women relate to money issues.

Reviewer: Linda Painchaud

I read Jim Jorgensen's book and found it very enlightning! It is written so everyone can understand it and can make money by following his nine points to building wealth. The best part about this book is it takes a conservative and sensible view of investing! Anyone can make money by following Jorgensen's advise, no matter how much money you have to invest!!!

This is a very simple book, as the other reviews have indicated. I liked it so much that I bought it for my collection of business and finance books. It is a keeper book that I highly recommend. Don't depend on Social Security... build your nest egg, at any age. NOW is a good time!!!

This book was a great tool for me in my financial planning. I found this book to be informative, well written and not restricted to one audience. I am in the early stages of planning my future financial needs and this book was an awesome guide.
This book is a great investment for anyone!

Sara and I have struggled with financial planning particularly as a result of the recent market turmoil. The Jorgensens' book has served as a much needed guide to managing our money. It emphasizes the basics and is understandable. Unlike other investment books which fail to encompass the whole picture, this book is complete and thorough. We would recommend it to anyone interested in taking a proactive role in managing their money.

Jim Jorgensen wrote a book that everyone can understand and best of all, can profit from his sound advise. His advise is conservative and makes so much sense. His steps to getting rich are concise and easy to follow. I am working on enriching my wealth with his advise!

This book was amazing! I loved now I get a good allowance and am very happy Mrs. Nathan could write such a master peice! This book rocks you should read it too!