Real Estate Loopholes: Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investing [Paperback]

Diane Kennedy (Author), Robert T. Kiyosaki (Author), Garrett Sutton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003 | Series: Rich Dad's Advisors

Finding wealth through investing in property depends on knowledge, a good plan - and building a team of advisors and mentors who can provide the expert guidance needed. By examining the three keys to successful real estate investing - selection, taxation and protection - REAL ESTATE LOOPHOLES shows what it takes to makes a real estate investment work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Warner Business Books (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446691356
• ISBN-13: 978-0446691352
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Business & Investing > Real Estate > Investments

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loopholes that put cash in your pocket!, April 1, 2003

By 

Fabio Marciano "thewealthypauper" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real Estate Loopholes: Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investing (Paperback)

The book is a quick read, especially if you're into real estate and have read some RE books before. But the authors' writing style, makes it easy for investors of all levels to understand the concepts. The authors are of course two RichDad Advisors (Sutton and Kennedy) and they start out by saying that there are two types of real estate loopholes: tax and legal.

- From the tax standpoint, these are the loopholes that you want to open and use.

- From the legal standpoint, these are the loopholes that you want to close and make sure no one sues you.

Kennedy starts by going over basics of different ways that you can get into real estate, including a section on how to build your team. Then you get walked through how to create a real estate investing plan. It's pretty basic stuff, but very well done.

Then you get taken through the tax system (briefly) in the US and you get walked through the three types of income: earned, passive and portfolio. Real estate is obviously passive in most instances and this is where you want to concentrate your efforts.

You then get a look at seven of the legal deductions that a real estate investor can legally take. There are over 100 deductions, but she covered the main seven you should be concerned with.

Next up is Mr. Sutton who will take you through the legal strategies to protect your assets. He takes you through different types of insurance you should have and then gets to the good stuff: how you should hold your real estate. He takes you through the pros and cons of C corps, S corps, LLCs, LPs, general partnerships, and sole proprietorships. Most people don't think of this stuff until after they purchase a place, but it makes sense to plan ahead and protect yourself.

The last half of the book is how to analyze properties, make the offer, do a title search, and watch the cash flow come in.

The book is filled with some good stories and examples that keep you moving through the book. It will definitely motivate you and make you feel like "I can do this stuff." Which is a great result from a book. I think it's a must-read for the budding RE investor.

Real Estate Loopholes is obviously a RichDad Advisors book so it will sell millions of copies regardless of what's in it, but it's worth the buy. I just wish they had worked with Dolf DeRoos and put his book Real Estate Riches together with this one and made a really great book instead of one good one (this one) and one awful one (DeRoos').

74 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Incomplete and confusing, May 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Real Estate Loopholes: Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investing (Paperback)

This book was a quick read, but I found that I had more questions after reading the book than I did when I started. One of the primary thrusts of the book is to get asset protection through the use of corporate or limited partnership entities. Some of the techniques discussed in the book cannot be structured through a corporate entity without triggering adverse tax consequences. So what is a person to do? This book makes the most sense if you are -- or aspire to become -- a landlord. For more complicated situations -- or for varied approaches to working with real estate (such as flipping) -- I'm not sure what to do. I guess the bottom line is that you must get good advice from competent advisors who know your business. It's not a bad place to start, but the authors jump around alot, as not all "loopholes" apply to the traditional corporate structures that the authors push.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good ideas, but too little info, August 27, 2003

By 

D. Henri "filmdave" (Thousand Oaks, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Estate Loopholes: Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investing (Paperback)

This is probably the 5th or 6th Rich Dad book that I have read, and I found that there is not much new here if you're already into the Rich Dad series. As a primer, though, it covers some interesting topics.

The two-author approach should have worked great, but only one of the authors, Garrett Sutton, is enjoyable to read.

Diane Kennedy, the advisor for opening tax loopholes to save you money, comes across as conceited (she operates a CPA firm and often talks about clients that she fired or almost fired). She also fills her section with promises of more information to be found on her website, but when you go there, it's nothing but a series of pitches to buy more products from her (complete with 3 pop-ups when you first enter her site).

Kennedy teases a rent-to-buy program as being extremely profitable, but offers very little in details. Instead, you are pointed back to her website and offered the chance to buy more info. What little info she does allow seems predatory in nature (she gleefully reports that, after she pockets tenant's earnest deposits, few of her tenants ever end up buying the property).

Sutton's sections, by contrast, are well written and even entertaining. He mixes real-world with hypothetical scenarios to show how best to protect both your investment and personal assets. While he clearly has a strong preference for holding title as an LLC, he's fair to other methods and demonstrates the pros and cons of many popular plans.

All told, there is some useful information here. To be accurate, however, the subtitle -- Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investing -- should instead read: "Questions to Ask Your Own CPA and Lawyer."