"The Millionaire Real Estate Investor"

Hey everyone, I apologize for the time between posts, but things have been quite hectic. I have a few things on the go right now and the blog has just taken a back seat.

I had previously mentioned that I read 3 real estate related books on my Californian crusade. The only book I haven't discussed yet is "The Millionaire Real Estate Investor". I should start by mentioning that I picked up this book probably for one reason. This book was written by Gary Keller. He is the "Keller" of Keller Williams. Since I work for them, I figured I should know what people are talking about when they talk about his book.

I would describe this book as an instructional book. It gives pretty clear advice on how to spend your time and energy when it comes to real estate investing. Gary Keller tries to make things as systematic as possible. He wants people to use resources that exist to them that help to save on your most precious resource, your time.

Generally, I don't think I would give this book to someone that is looking at getting into real estate investing for the first time. To me, it is not written in a spirit that is all that inspirational unless you can visualize the product of your efforts. Since you don't quite know how involved you need to be, I cannot foresee how you can visualize the end result. I found that rich dad, poor dad, was more inspirational than instructional, and I think that is critical for someone who needs to take the plunge into real estate.

If you have already bought a property or you have an incredible need to do more research before you buy, I would recommend this book. Again, this is an American book, so some of the strategies may not work in Canada. This is especially true considering the time that the book was written. The book pre-dates the housing bubble that had burst during the housing crisis. My advice to you is that you do your due diligence before acting upon what you read.

Rich dad, Poor Dad

This is another book that I read while I was in transit to San Jose. This is probably the easiest of the 3 reads as the book is pretty fluent. I thought it was also the best read for an investor starting out for the first time.

The reason I chose this to be the first book for an investor (of the three I read on the trip) is because it talks about some fundamental principals about money. Being an accountant, I have some finance background that certainly aids me in my financial endeavors. When I am talking about fundamentals about money, I am talking about some of the myths associated with home ownership. Specifically, I am talking about thinking of a house as an asset.

In accounting, an asset is something that is purchased to generate income. A typical owner-occupied home does not generate income, however, this concept delivers an important lesson about money. If you can somehow generate an income or at least reduce your monthly payments, you can generate an opportunity to make more money, making your money work for you instead of you working for money.

The book goes into detail about how people move into bigger and bigger homes when their salaries go up and up. The problem becomes that people don't really get further ahead because they carry larger mortgages as a result. In that sense, you fall into the rat race. The book starts to go into detail about how to get out of the rat race. By the end of the book, the tips become more advanced (and more American), so these points may not be advantageous for the person just starting out. I like to think that this book can convince people to think of real estate when thinking about their investments.

The reason I am stressing this point is because I think our education system is somewhat flawed. I remember in multiple math classes learning about trigonometry and wondering when the hell I would use this info. After university, I still think that trig is somewhat useless for the average person. I'm not saying that trig should be removed from the curriculum, but I think money should be added.

How many people get themselves into deep credit card debts? How many people have trouble with student loans? There are people that don't understand basic concepts about money and I think a more concerted effort should be taken in our schools to help kids understand how to use money properly and effectively. It can be the largest lesson a kid could learn. Anyways, it's just my two cents.

97 Tips for Canadian Real Estate investors

When I was on my trip to San Jose, I picked a few books to read while on the road. I figured I could do a little more research and share some of the advice from those books. The first book I read was called "97 Tips for Canadian Real Estate Investors" by Don R. Campbell.

The best part of this book is the fact that it is a Canadian book. The tips and advice that are offered in this book relate to many things, but it is nice to know that things such as tax advice are applicable in Canada, and not necessarily worldwide. I've noticed in the other books I have read that not all the tips necessarily work.

As an example, in some American books, there is a special rollover available to real estate investors that allows them to increase their investment in real estate without necessarily incurring a taxable event. I think this should serve as a lesson about any real estate book that you pick up. The advice and tips that are available may not work for you for a variety of reasons. However, you should learn about the possibilities and do the research necessary to ensure you are making the right decision.

The reason I am making this point is that, when I bought a different book, I was asked some questions by the person who recommended the book. It was a tax question, and being a CA, I questioned the tax advice that he had learned about. After reading the book, I realized where he got his misinformation. Although the information in the book was true, it does not apply to Canadian property at this point in time. Canadians have a different set of rules. You should contact a tax specialist to learn more.

Back to the book.

I thought that this book was a pretty advanced book. For the novice investor, I would say that if this was the first book you read, be sure to pick it up once you've gained more experience. There is a lot of content in this book and you won't be able to take it all in at once. It's also a very fragmented read. You might want to have this book in the bathroom, so you can read it in bursts. I don't find it easy to read from beginning to end. It's too scattered in the thought process.

The thing I do like about this book is that it can act as a good reference guide down the road. The advanced tips will be there to quickly read, so that you can move quickly on any investment decisions. It's like picking up a bible for some quick guidance, except this is for real estate. Therefore, if you are just thinking about getting into real estate, I might recommend a different book. If you are a novice investor, I would highly recommend for you to pick up this book if you are involved in real estate in Canada.