Customer Reviews

Rich Dad's Real Estate Advantages: Tax and Legal Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investors

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is designed to help you develop a smarter real estate acquisition plan. It shows how you can look hard at your assets and liabilities and develop a leverage plan for purchases and a tax advantage plan to maximize your cash flow. There is some good advice on networking, mentoring, joining a local real estate club and building a team of advisors. The explanation of tax strategies, depreciation and insurance is not as strong or in depth as I'd liked to have read. However the chapters on tax-free exchanges are very enlightening; especially to those of who have read about it but have been afraid to do a 1031. The book also offers other good advice on homestead advantages and responsibilities for legal due diligence. The strength of the book for me, and probably most other investors who have less than 10 properties, is (1) the advice on asset protection; e.g. use of a Limited Liability Corporation, and (2) smart use of the tax-free advantages in 1031 exchanges. I strolgy recommend it for those who have a few properties and are ready to make a bigger bolder move in real estate investing.

(Available in both book and audio--reviewed as an audio)

Whether you are new to real estate investing, or a seasoned real estate investor looking to maximize your returns, Rich Dad's Real Estate Advantages has something for you.

Beginning with very basic real estate investment tactics such as the 1031 exchange and increasing buying power with the bank's money, and gaining in complexity to taking advantage of tax code and decreasing legal risk, this book continues the tradition of good advice the Rich Dad system is known for.

The audio book version is read by Garrett Sutton, ESQ, one of the authors, with a forward by Robert Kiyosaki (the Rich Dad guru) and Sharon L. Lechter, CPA. The audio is of fine quality with no variation in sound level and Sutton reads it flawlessly. The CDs, whether intentionally or not, also seem to be broken into the three components of the book: introductory real estate investing, tax strategies, and legal strategies, so it would be relatively easy to re-listen to specific sections.

I would say that this book is so full of information that I felt I should be taking notes. Probably, listening multiple times would suffice, but many investors would like to reference specific sections and may prefer the hard copy rather than the audio. Someone just beginning, especially someone who commutes and can listen daily, will see the advantage of information repeat that the audio provides.

Armchair Interviews says: A good book--but this audio format won't be appropriate for everyone.

This book does for real estate investing what Pimsleur does for language learning: it teaches you to speak the real estate language, to ask knowledgeable questions, and to make informed decisions.

I have been through dozens of books, tapes, and CD programs on investing in real estate. Some are strictly motivational with little useful information. Others are like reference works and cannot be read from beginning to end. Still others hope to be meaningful forever and so dare not give you anything too current, or disputable and likely to change. Lechter and Sutton, however, wrote a book to turn a dreamer into a real estate investor. If that's what you still want at the end - but you have all the info to make the decision. Other reviewers might say that there are no "secrets" in this book - true, I suppose - but if YOU don't have a tutor for the subject, then for YOU common knowledge is a secret!

The authors give separate advice for dealing with primary residence and for investment properties. Most other books blur these separate cases. Special cases where individual state law might differ from the general situations are pointed out. Case studies and repetition are used throughout - much like Pimsleur uses conversation in each language lesson. The reader brings everything learned earlier to each case, but is stretched just a bit to see why each case is unique. Each chapter builds on prior chapters. Included is the required amount of math, but this is clearly not a math book. On the contrary, it is an enjoyable read cover-to-cover. Some of the material is current as of 2006 and this is clearly noted. I hope this book gets updated every few years.

While technically part of the Rich Dad series, the book stands on its own. The reader is fully aware of the few tacked-on references to the Rich Dad philosophy.

This book is a must-read for anyone thinking about a career in real estate investing in all its forms. Consider it the second book you read - after something like "Home Buying for Dummies."

I bought my first property just before I purchased this book. I received it just before an international business trip, and didn't get any sleep on the flight because I was pouring over the basic concepts and ideas that fill this wonderful book.

If you are already in real estate and know the basics, you may not need this book. If you already have your team of advisors and know who to go for when you have questions, you may not need this book. If you understand the differences between LLCs and LP and why one is better in California than in Nevada, you may not need this book.

For most beginning real estate investors, this book is just the right amount and just the right speed to get started. Garrett and Sharon don't look at the buy-and-flip models, but rather at the advantages of staying in real estate, building a portfolio, and intelligently upgrading your properties (1031 Exchanges). They also go over the long-term planning aspects of inheritance and how to move your properties to family members with minimal taxes. They don't profess a silver bullet, but rather a rational plan to financial success through real estate.

Verdict: Highly recommended.

Rich Dad has a series of books, with the best selling one mainly a motivational one. This book is an exception, it actually offers practical advice and tips on how to properly setup real estate investments and corporate assets. Not just how to motivate you with words.

-Matt
Illustrator for the Ultimate Foreclosure Kit
(ISBN 0978834658)

I believe that real estate has certain advantages as described in this book such as 1031-exchange and depreciation, but I will warn readers about the benefits of leverage. The authors argue that real estate is superior to other investment alternatives, such as stocks or mutual funds, because leverage can increase returns. While this is true, leverage works well on the way up and destroy returns on the way down. I believe that many people, especially real estate investors, learned this lesson the hard way when property values plunged starting in 2008.

With that being said, I do believe that this book does a good job explaining the advantages in real estate. I liked the explanation of 1031-exchanges that allow investors to get into a bigger property, deferring capital gains. You cannot do this type of exchange with stocks.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

What can you say? It's another rich dad book. Very informative and written primarily by professionals with an in-depth view. The book is a good read for anyone. It gave me a lot to think about and some things to discuss with my team. No dull spots in this book. Read it cover to cover in a few days. Worth reading twice.

Unfortunately the book didn't uncover any "secrets" whatsoever as the title alludes to. The information contained in this book is very basic. I found one major problem with the text in that it encourages "component depreciation". My research and understanding is that this was clearly outlawed in the US in the 1980s. When I contacted the publishing company for clarification, no one would answer this simple question (for two months before I gave up trying to get an answer they said Sharon Lechter was on vacation with no access to phone or email).

If this book was filled with high quality ideas, I would have overlooked an error or two and given it 4 or 5 stars. But that wasn't the case and I already knew most of what is contained in this text. All in, this book isn't even worth the $5 +shipping I paid for it used....

I got this book as part of my real estate coaching program, I read it all but at the time as a starting investor it was really irrelivant and drab. So for anyone who is just starting out, or who maybe just bought their first or second property, this isn't the book for you yet.

For anyone else who has several properties and is looking for some tax and legal strategies, this book has a great deal of information and creative ideas. With respect that it was written before the real estate bust of 07, some of the tax and legal strategies -may- not be applicable anymore. But I'm sure you will know already by now that where old doors close, new ones open. So it's a good continuation of your research to figure our which tax and legal strategies are right for you and your own short term and long term financial needs.

I bought this book after reading roberts rich dad por dad, and it was an eye opener to me. My house had gone in foreclosure but after reading this book i realised the problem was me, and not the bank. lack of information led me to foreclosure. Great book, and an eye opener for someone who is interested in real estate. I would recommend it. coz of simple plain english. It is easy to understand. I am big fan of rich dad poor dad books.
Irene