The Barefoot Investor has a strong opinion on financial books such as Steves and Robert Kiyosakis.
he cites “from 0 to 130…”, “broke to multimillionaire in just seven years” and “the one minute millionaire” as books that “should be read with your eyes closed”.
Has anyone else read the article in todays Courier Mail ?
he quotes Ben Stein(apparantly an accomplished economist): “anyone can write a book about how to get rich. They rarely work, though, which isn’t suprising since the people who write them rarely know much about money”.
This article has disgusted me no end. I am planning on buying my first investment property this year, and the skills and knowledge I will use in making my deals will have come mostly from ideas/tips/insights I ghave gained over the last few years reading people such as Robert Kiyosaki, Steve McKnight and Donald Trump.
I think its downright disgucting for this “barefoot” investor to generalise and attack all sefl help books on financial education.
Oh, and to top it all off, he is pushing his OWN book on his website.
I’m seriously considering writing to this guy ([email protected]) to give him a peice of my mind.
if there is any interest in this I will type up the full article from home this evening (it doesnt seem to have appeared in the online paper today)
cheers
Russ
Yeah, he is right and he is wrong…I have just knocked over about 6 books on property investng in the last 2 weeks – and most of them are not really good. Don’t get me wrong – I got tips from all of them – but there came a point that their strategies broke down or showed a biad to one type of property investing. Thta fact that Steves book was the best was suprising – as I almost dropped it at the book store because of the cheesy title. I come from a business background – with a degree and MBA and I have always been critical of home ownership due to the financial burdan it put you under. I like to stay light on my feet and put my money into something that makes me money.
Steve’s books immediately struck me as common sense and prudent to a person who is used to writing business plans and trying to drop a new businesses burn rate. However, like i said, the title is cheezy – excactly the type that a shyster would use – also with the “following” he has created (hell this site and products are a sweet business idea – and constructed well), he makes an easy target. Unfortunately sucess in the mainstream does not win you praise in academic circles – in fact it does the opposite. A shame – as most economists that I’ve met are pretty broke.
Sean Mulligan
NE Sales Consultant
Otis Elevator Company Pty LtdHi.
I’d be interested in reading the piece. Is there a link to it somewhere?
I’m in agreeance with Sean on the subject of RE books. I’ve managed to get something out of almost every one I’ve read but I do crack every spine with a preparedness for skepticism. There tends to be a lot of Rah Rah and flag waving in the RE authoring community and some of these people do tend to get carried away with their own accomplishments and leave out certain details vital to their success. The key as far as I’m concerned is to try to look behind the text for the nucleus of the knowledge and to use that, rather than any particular method, to your advantage.
Art
‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.’ – Albert Einstein
Despite owning IPs for 15 years or so I am an avid reader of RE and investment books, and can usually find something of interest or a new way of looking at things.
My main gripe with RE books is the way they gloss over maintenance issues. Hot water systems, range hoods, exhaust fans, stoves can have a life expectancy of around 10-15 years (less if tenants are careless) so if you own 100 properties then in any year you should expect to replace 8-10 hot water systems and 6-8 stoves, but I never see any reference to this sort of hefty expenditure. Even with Steve’s 130 CP properties which did not appear to be anywhere near new seemed to have incredibly little maintenance requirements.
If IPs are nearby then it is possible to do some maintenance yourself, but interstate or distant properties are at the mercy of tradesmen. Tenants are legally entitled to get repairs done when the problem arises.
But I still enjoy reading these books, even if the picture presented is usually a bit on the rosy side.
Cheers
margMarg,
I tend to agree. I havejust read ‘0 – 130’ and it seems that 10% or 20% deposit is required to make most IP’s CF+. Where does the average single income family with a mortgage, kids and a car loan find between $10k and $50k each time to buy an IP, let alone legals and stamp duty.[glum]Marg, Couldn’t agree more! Nearly every inspection the agent does some small repair is needed. Some are only minor, but replacing a H/w system for $1000 does bite into the cash flow. Although Steve’s book was titled 0 to 130 properties, I think you’ll find this was total transactions as many were flipped or vendour financed. At the Masterclass last year he said they held around 65 – 80 properties at any one time. Still a great result in such a short time.
I love to read, even if its just a few pages before going off to sleep, and I think theres no better and cheaper way to learn. Often books will repeat things you already know, but I take this as reinforcement that we’re on the right track. You’ll’ never find all the “secrets” from 10 chapters of any book.
AmandaBS
http://www.propertydivas.com.au
FREE online Property Resources“It is better to be inconspicuously wealthy, than to be ostentatiously poor…”
Hi, Russ
I agree with many of the comments. Most RE books simply tell you basic knowledge that you would have already known if you have read enough of them. It could well be simply reinforcing the point that you might be down the right track.
Each book would have a particular bias towards a particular approach. I believe it is really up to you to go out there to get some first hand experience and develop you own style. Many of these books streamline the information that one would need to survive and thrive in RE investing.
All the best.
Daniel Lee [specs]
I tend to agree. I havejust read ‘0 – 130’ and it seems that 10% or 20% deposit is required to make most IP’s CF+. Where does the average single income family with a mortgage, kids and a car loan find between $10k and $50k each time to buy an IP, let alone legals and stamp dutyYou’ll find that when Steve wrote that book (5 years ago?) the properties he was picking up in regional towns were pretty cheap. The market has moved alot since he wrote the first book, so it’s a good idea to read the following book.
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