Customer Reviews

Rental Houses for the Successful Small Investor

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have read many books on R.E. investing, many say the same thing and some make wild promises. Suzanne has put together a book that is both different than others and at the same time, does not promise that you will get rich overnight.

Suzanne covers many of the pitfalls associated with Real Estate Investing as well and I like that. Too many others make it appear as though R.E. Investing is a slam dunk, invest, rent your property and wait for the checks to come rolling in. Not so.

Overall a good book by Suzanne. Great for novices and experienced alike.

Ignore those 1 star reviews, Suzanne's advice is right on and really works. Ihighly recommend this book. Follow Suzanne's advice and go for it.

Thank you Ssuzanne

The real estate and tax information is so very basic. Mark Haroldson covered this in more detail over 26 years ago in his classic; "Wake Up The Financial Genius Within You."Suzanne, nice effort, But way too basic.

I enjoyed Real Estate Riches and Nothing Down for the 90's along with Creating Wealth and strongly recommend those books over this one.

Very little, if anything new here. Beginners and all real estate investors could do better by reading somethingelse.

I got this book based on the five star reviews. I was expecting something really fantastic. What I got was a very abridged version of a complete book and the author hawking a real estate seminar. The five star reviewers much be either completely ignorant about real estate or blatantly naive and easy prey for a sales pitch.Recommend Flipping Properties or Income Formulas by Al Lowery for some real meaty real estate info.

Interesting contrast of opinions on this book. Personally, I think Suzanne Thomas has written a good, but not great book on real estate.1 star reviewers; are you reacting to the five star reviewers comments or the actual content of this book? I have read some of the book recommendations you 1 star reviewers have made and agree they are good choices and in many ways similiar to what Suzanne offers here.5 star reviewers are too bullish on this book. You guys sound like a child who goes into a candy store for the first time. Most of this is basic, so that tells me a lot about your experience in real estate.Overall a good book by Suzanne Thomas and I recommend it. In another regard, hats off to Suzaane for her patience with the 1 star reviewers. The fact that Ms. Thomas does not delete these reviews like some other self publishers also tells me that Suzanne is a person of character and not afraid of either fact or opinion about her work!Goodbook Suzanne, I am looking forward to your next book.

Better informationi s available elsewhere.

You can skip this one

While Suzanne's book m ay not be a blockbuster like Robert Allen's Nothing Down or even as big. And even though Suzanne does cover a lot of the same information, she also covers her own unique experiences and strategies.

I don't know why people are giving this book 1 star. I have seen worse. 3 stars is the lowest it deserves and if this stuff is truly so basic to you 1 star reviewers, then why are you not out doing the deals instead of buying more books and writing reviews?

This author makes it appear all so easy. Just go out and buy 4-5 properties and have a net worth of approximately $40,000.Big problem with this theory. First it assumes that the individual has the $40,000 to invest. If not, it means borrowing and that means debt and interest on loans.It also assumes that tenants will take care of your property. If a baby throws food on the wall they'll clean it. It also assumes that the tenant will take care of minor fixups and not bother you. And it does not take into account the high turnover rate of tenants who will leave on a dime or the damage that tenants do to your property.The hypothetical example of a penny a day doubled every day or a $1,000 a day for 30 days is impressive, but also hypothethical. I know people who have invested in real estate, own a half dozen properties and are now desperately trying to sell them, take their losses and move on to another opportunty. Not all parts of the country are showing growth in real estate and you still have to subtract the costs of your real estate business (the cost of a loan and interest on loans, repairs, running ads to acquire tenants and so on) from the income and perceived growth.The best of what is available here has been published in other books over the years. I think that the average person who watches a Carleton Sheets infomercial knows as much about reals estate as what is offered in this book...this book... falls far too short on details.Not bad, but not worth the money either.

I purchased five books from Amazon on real estate investing and decided to read Ms. Thomas's book first because it looked like the "easiest" to read. I just inherited two rental houses, so I had several questions I expected this book to answer, and it did. It covered all aspects of rental houses that I expected and needed to know about - although I still plan to read the other four books as well. While it was indeed easy reading, it was packed with useful information - much of it firsthand examples from Ms. Thomas's own experiences with rental properties in Colorado and Texas. Although it would be difficult for one book to address all of the state and local matters that a property owner might encounter, the author at least showed that what works well in one area of the country may not work in another. These include demographic considerations, market pricing, taxes and legal issues, renter's expectations and so forth. She also provided numerous hypothetical examples of real estate investments and stories from other people in the business. Calculations are shown for many areas including investment returns, taxes and 1031 tax exchanges. Simple but useful worksheets are provided in four appendices. I highly recommend the book, especially to those investigating rental properties as an investment or just getting started.