The Successful Landlord Blog

I recently finished reading a great book called Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life by John C. Bogle, famously known for founding the mutual-fund investment company named Vanguard.

Bogle mostly laments the fact that many of the old values in American, and presumably world, business are all but defunct. It seems that simple ideas like long-term service to clients, fair employee compensation and the level of expected business returns have all but gone out the window in favor of a single goal. Profit. And more of it.

He also points out, in great detail, the systemic problems now becoming plainly visible in the financial systems of the world’s developed countries today. That part in itself was a very interesting and educational read.

Bogle comes from the “old school” in that, he way he was raised (“to save rather than to spend”) which is all but looked down upon these days especially in America, in my opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

So, recently I was given the opportunity to read a new book which I thought was appropriate for the current real estate market climate. The book, called The Make Money On Foreclosures Answer Book was written by one Denise L Evans, Attorney-at-law.

Ms. Evans goes into quite a lot of necessary detail regarding the purchase of properties at various stages of foreclosure. She is clear and to-the-point about many misconceptions the general public has about buying properties in foreclosure.

One point that bears repeating, is that properties advertised for sale as “foreclosures” are typically listed at or very near market prices. This is due to the fact that the bank holding the mortgage lists the property for the appraised value or a value based on a broker price opinion (BPO).

Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I was looking at one of my bookshelves and realized that I have read an inordinate number of books on real estate investing, being a landlord and the legal issues surrounding the same, when I was preparing to invest in real estate.

So I set up a bookstore to feature these books. Most of the books in the bookstore, I have found to be quite helpful and informative. I should note, however, that certain books I’ve read on the subject, namely those written by Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Dad Poor Dad fame, I DO NOT recommend as I have found them to be over simplified and not very true-to-life.

In fact, the only book of his that I recommend is Rich Dad Poor Dad mostly because of the “cashflow quadrant” device he uses to explain why you usually can’t get rich working as an employee for someone else.

If anyone has any suggestions for additions, please let me know and I’ll consider adding them to the list.