Customer Reviews

Creating Wealth Through Probate: The Best-Kept Secret in Real Estate Investing

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Only 87 pages of material once you get rid of the worthless appendix and the apocryphical success stories. Wanna save your money? Here is the gist of what Banks tells you: Find the death records of the county you wish to buy in(not obituaries, though he never tells you why), get on the corresponding counties property appraisal website and see if the deceased had any property. Finally contact the Executor and see if they will sell for a steep discount. There you go, no need to spend your hard earned money.

Let me put it this way, the book is about 220 pages and only 82 pages are for reading. The rest are appendixes with fluff and filler. Nothing of substance or value. Geee...like I really needed a checklist of things to fix up? I could have made that up myself.

Now, as I said, you have about 82 pages to read. Guess what? Out of those 82, the author fills them up with exciting stories from newspapers, etc. He spends no time whatsoever teaching you anything.

I really cannot believe this actually got published!!!!!!

Want to learn about buying probates, don't bother buying this book. Try NOLO Press or search the internet for anything but this piece of garbage. Rarely do I feel ripped off from a book that doesn't deliver, but this one qualifies. There are 240+ pages, the Appendix (starting on page 111) is full of examples from different states ads on Notice to Creditors and a few charts of how much attorneys can charge in each state. Of the 8 chapters covering 110 pages, only 4 really deal with buying probate properties. The first 2 chapters tell you why you should invest in real estate. This is a high school level term paper that could have been condensed down to a pamphlet. From a guy who charges [...] for his seminar, you would expect a little more, but then that's probably what he really wants to sell you. [...]. Come on Jim, get your act together and give us some meat.

Little to no information! AS a previous review stated, you are paying for a giant appendix! If you know nothing about probate, go to your local book store and read chapter 3. This book praises the process but really doesn't answer enough questions. I contacted a lawyer in my area after reading it, unless you live in California, double check with your attorney, not every state is created equal.

Thank goodness I did not purchase this book! The library saves me again. A worthless read that did nothing to educate me in investing in probate real estate. The author focuses on anecdotal stories, mostly of success with making money off personal property--not real estate.

I concur with everyone here. after reading this nonsense i wondered who i felt more sorry for, me for the hours of life i will never get back, or for the trees that died to publish it. I agree with the previous post, look at the death records and then work backwards. And that didnt waste your time or kill any nature.

This book does not give solid practical advice. If you're a new investor who has never bought a house before, perhaps this would work for you. But if you've bought and fixed up a property it isn't for you. You'd be better served going to the probate court in your area and asking questions. It included lots of general anecdotes, but it makes one wonder why he wrote it if he weren't truly going to share how to do it. The actual probate advice in this book could be condensed to a 10-page pamphlet.

I too had high expectations of this book. What a let down. I read alot of real estate books and this is the first time I felt cheated by the author. I thought this was a step by step book on how to purchase probate properties but I was dead wrong. Save your money, we all can't be wrong about this book...

Rarely do I write book reviews but this one was so bad that I feel obligated to let people know about it. The bottom line is that this book lacks the detail needed to really teach a person about the probate system and how to use it to successfully invest in real estate.

What a joke. Don't buy this book. It was a complete waste of my time and energy. Several problems with it... It is packed with a TON of filler material. It has a few goofy stories about probate situations, which are mildly interesting. It also contains a lot of rediculous "insight" about real estate investing in general, that I can't help but wonder if the author is actually a real estate investor. It certainly doesn't sound like it! And, pages 111-244 are filled with nothing but useless junk including court system flow charts and classified ads! This is only book I have ever bought on the topic of real estate investing that I felt was a complete waste of money. The author simply does not share any practical information on doing probate deals. Its real substance is in pages 46-54. Read those at the bookstore and then leave it there.