Dolf de Roos "101 Ways to Massively Increase the Value of Your Real Estate"

[geoffw]

Hi,

I've received a flyer from the people who market Kiyosakis & Associates products in Australia.

They are marketing Dolf de Roos' book "101 Ways to Massively Increase the Value of Your Real Estate without Spending Much Money".

I read that book. I learnt one new thing- and as a result I have four IPs instead of two.

The url is http://shop.powwowevents.com.au/site/1/christmas&wosid=OBGzMOSX9J0D3Ll4H8sxPg but it doesn't show much info. There's more info in the link:

"The latest book by Rich Dad's Advisor and real estate expert, Dolf de Roos. 101 Ways to Massively Increase the Value of Your Real Estate will show you how to: • Transform the initial impression that people get of your property • Add additional income streams to your real estate • Turn a $200 dollar slab of concrete into a $20,000 asset • Improve the rental value, rentability, market value, sale price, time to sell and equity of your real estate... and 97 other ways to massively increase the value of your real estate Please Note: This book is not available in stores. It is available exclusively through Pow Wow Events"

It sounds interesting- but I'd be suspicious of a book which is not available through bookstores. Why not?

[michaelg]

Hi,

Just a thought - if enough people are interested in getting this book email us at mgruber@iinet.net.au

If the numbers are right we can put through a reseller order to Powwow to provide a discount.

But we need to check the numbers as postage may kill any benefit of a discount, so include your state as well.

Michael G

[Sunstone]

Dear Geoff,

Funny thing is that most of the ideas in this book probably didn't come from himself.

In his course he makes his students come up with lots of value adding rules and takes a copy of them at the end of each course.

Wouldn't surprise me if some of my ideas were in there although I would cry if I heard his three legged carport or helipad idea again.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

[geoffw]

Sunstone,

You may be right I don't know.

I'd be interested to know from someone who's read the book and done the course.

ButI'd be even more interested to know just from someone who's read the book.

Sorry- but if it was your idea or not- if the ideas are good, and they work, I'd llike to know. Or if they don't work, likewise.

But I suspect that, having gone on the course, you've learnt to think in a different way. The ideas themselves are not as important as the creative way you've learnt ("thinking outside the square").

I'm judging this by the reactions of one person who did the weekend seminar.

[Jas]

Originally posted by Sunstone
... I would cry if I heard his three legged carport or helipad idea again.


I have to agree, Dolf does have a standard speil, I've heard both those mutliple times (as well as the story of his lolly stand)


Jas

[Kathryn]

I've ordered the book so I'll see if it's worth the $38.45 ($8.50 just in shipping!!) If we can get at least one good tip it's probably money well spent. I hope to get it by next week at the latest....I'll let you know.

Cheers,
Kathryn

[Jas]

Let us know Kathryn,

I'm very curious!

Jas

[Sunstone]

Dear Geoff/Jas.

Jas,

Yes the lolly stand was a good one. But I do like his "Awaken the five year old in us" to wake up every morning with passion and enthusiasm.

Geoff,

Some of his ideas are definitely good. I purchased all of his books that were publically available (3 books) before the "101 value adding ideas" and was disappointed with the ones excluding the "Real Estate Riches" one. Yes I have done his weekend course. Perhaps at the time my justification for doing his course was the same as you had when you first did your Peter Spann course. Would I do it again....... No, but it served it's purpose at the time.

Interestingly his first book "The new zealand investor's guide to Making Money in residential real estate" was written by him AND Jan Somers. First printing 1992.

With value adding ideas I believe that this would make a great thread and the forum itself could come up with lots of great value adding ideas.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

[Jas]

I bought his first two, and I have to say the story by story one didn't do it for me... I was new and young at the time, but I didn't get fired up, didn't get inspired. Not enought detail I remember thinking at the time.

Jas

[Les]

and was disappointed with the ones excluding the "Real Estate Riches" one

Well, I guess I hit the jackpot, as the only one of his I've bought (and read, cover to cover, several times) is "Real Estate Riches" - and it is WELL WORTH the money imho.

Regards,

[Sunstone]

Dear Les,

Yes you did hit the jackpot. That is why it is so important that we post opinions on new/old property books on here so that we can help each other to best use our financial resources.

The "Extraordinary Profits from Ordinary Properties" one that Jas mentioned has a great name. The unfortunate thing is that is doesn't get people excited.

The only one Jas, that I liked was on page 29 the one about taking a big block of land with a crappy house on it; moving it to one side and building two units out back. This was good to see a story on something interesting and how it was done.

Figures if people are interested:

Acquisition: 3 bedroom bungalow on 1/4 acre section.
Location: Dublin St, Pukekohe.
Purchase Date: July 1994
Purchase Price: $41,000
Independent Valuation: $50,000
Improvements: 2 units built on subdivided rear of section.
Current Rental (per week): bungalow $185 and 2 units $230 each
Further Improvements: $160,000
Registeredd Valuation: $472,000 (September 1997)

(Again a New Zealand example and NZ dollars.)

Cheers,

Sunstone.

[XBenX]

Originally posted by Sunstone
With value adding ideas I believe that this would make a great thread and the forum itself could come up with lots of great value adding ideas.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

Sounds like a good plan - new thred started(jst so everything is in one place)

[Kathryn]

Read the book last night cover to cover....didn't take long, it's less than 100 pages. Personally, I probably wouldn't have bought it if it was for sale in a bookstore (which is why it probably isn't).

There was nothing really new or earth-shattering. Probably all of the ideas have been mentioned here on the forum. The first 79 are for residential. The next 11 are for commercial, the next 10 are for "upmarket" homes (and yes, the helipad is in there) and the final tip is to improve your neighbor's homes to help lift yours.

I suppose for someone completely new to renovating/investing it may offer some good tips, but I've found the forum to be just as good. He mentions at the end to visit his website if you have any ideas not mentioned, or if you want to see what other people have come up with, but I couldn't find anything on it.

Save your money, buy a new mailbox instead :p

Cheers,
Kathryn

[Sunstone]

Dear Kathryn,

Thanks for the followup feedback, especially on something that we would otherwise have to buy "sight unseen".

Now we just have to keep on developing XBenX's value adding thread.

So how do you get the neighbours of your IP's to improve their houses? Maybe it would be easier to participate in a local "community renewal/development" program?

Cheers,

Sunstone.

[Marge]

yes this book is a waste of money. Simple thoughts that can found here on the forum or by doing some easy thinking yourself.
I bought it at his seminar in Brisbane this year. By the way, the seminar was not very good either. Fine if you have not read any of his books, but is you have, than its repition straight out of the book!

[Kathryn]

Hi Sunstone,

He gives an example that if the house either side needs painting, that you do it yourself if they can't be bothered. You can see if they will help subsidise the cost of the paint, but even if they don't it will create some goodwill with the neighbors in addition to adding value to your house.

You could also mow their lawns if they're a bit slack to help with the look of the neighborhood, etc. The sky's the limit...depends on what needs to be done.

Cheers,
Kathryn

[Kevmeister]

I am presently reading Dolf's book "Real Estate Riches" which I received as a Xmas present. From what I can tell, my mother-in-law purchased it for me because it was part of the Rich Dad series, and I already had "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", sitting on my bookshelf. Ah, the power of branding...

So far, it is an encouraging read (I am just over half-way thru it). I would probably even recommend this book as a primer before jumping into Jan's book "More Wealth from Residential Property".

(As a side note, I absolutely loved the snippets from George Clason's "The Richest Man in Babylon" e-Book that Sunstone posted. That too should be a must-read for anyone wanting to start off on the right footing financially - the simplicity of the advice is the real gem. I will be buying this book for myself to read then keeping it on my shelf for 10+ years till my daughter gets a little older... [she's 16 months :-)] ).

Anyway, back to Dolf's book...

The tone of the book is much lighter and more encouraging, whereas "More Wealth from Residential Property" is drier and more factual. Dolf sometimes overdoes it with the exclamatory sentences however. Personally, Dolf gives me the impression that I can get out there and just make it happen, Jan still leaves me thinking I'm in for a lot of hard work. Reality is somewhere in between I'm figuring.

The best part of "Real Estate Riches", given my reading so far, is his analysis of the newpaper article that compared property, stocks, and term deposits. I will get my wife to at least read these first few chapters as it explains leverage and why it makes property a good investment vehicle (one of my wife's questions, as some of you [with extremely good memory] might recall from my thread a while back, is why we don't just place money into a managed fund).

But, I think it also has some errors, perhaps because the advice is non-jurisdictional (and disclaimed as such at the beginning of the book). Particularly the part about having your IP revalued, increasing the finance on the property back to a neutral-gearing level, and taking the difference as tax free income. Well, yes, it will be tax free income, but you have just affected the tax deductibility of the interest component on the IP, unless that tax-free income is in fact used to buy more investments.

The other issue given seemingly one-sided reverence by Dolf concerns depreciation. He has not pointed out, so far (or, in fairness to Dolf, I have missed it) that the whole point behind depreciation is because eventually you will have to replace what you are depreciating. And, in the Australian context, what the Tax-Man giveth (depreciation) the Tax-Man taketh away (erosion of your CGT cost-base if you ever sell).

I also felt that sometimes Dolf gives some examples a bit too much "upside" and not enough "downside". His "funeral parlour" example to me was a bit ridiculous (perhaps I am the conservative type?). Great, he's got a 10+10 year lease, which really means perhaps only a 10-year lease, then what? He glosses over the risk associated with having a purpose-built property that probably appeals to only one kind of business (and notwithstanding a business of which there is only a relatively small population).

The fact is, some of the caveats I mention above have not been learnt from any book - they have been learnt on this forum! (er, sorry, got carried away with exclamation mark just like Dolf). And therefore I would suggest that whilst "Real Estate Riches" is a good book to get you excited about the prospects of real estate, it sometimes let hype get in the way of reality.

[Jamie]

Hi all,

Would anyone who has purchased this book be prepared to lend it to the community library, as suggested in an earlier thread by Luke?

I have borrowed a couple of books thru the forum and in turn have lent some, and think it was a rewarding experience for both sides... and the cost was zero.

Just a thought,

Jamie :p

[rossv]

Hi,


Found this little tiff between dolf and john t reed



http://www.hotrentals.co.nz/ExternalLink.aspx?href=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/money/moneystorydisplay.cfm?storyID=2045428&thesection=money&thesubsection=investment&thesecondsubsection=propertyinvestment


rossv

[fredo]

I purchased the book after reading a bit about it on the forum
I read it in 2 hours, a very poor read and a rip off
He has a web site at the back of the book and I intend to request my money back
The book is worth $10 bucks and thats being genorous

Ripped off Fredo

[geoffw]

Thanks for the feedback people.

I decided to leave the book- most (not all) responses were not that positive. That sort of supported by thoughts- most times, I would buy a book without questionaing.

[Sunstone]

Dear Geoff,

It is important that we discuss the property books that we read. Some are good and some are well................ should be left on the shelf. By passing info to each other we save time in finding the real jems.

Personally I am sure that there must be some other "gems" out there in the same vein as "The richest man in Babylon" which could be 50+ years old but have great info that would benefit us and yet are left on the roadside by the general public.

Any "oldie" book out there that you or the guys think we should add to TRMIB?

Cheers,

Sunstone.

[Andrew]

I'm halfway through "The Wealthy Barber" and I'm really enjoying it. It's an easy
read and the best way to describe it is a "Richest man in Babylon" for our generation.

The messages aren't as powerfully stated IMHO but the practical advice that is relevant
for today i.e. life insurance and superannuation, makes up for it.

Make sure that you get the Australian edition as this book is written by a Canadian but the
version I have has lots of references to the Sydney Tigers, Newcastle Knights, and of course
Australian financial products.

andy

[XBenX]

there wasnt even one new idea that you havent thought of before ?

thats how i value a book/seminar/presentation

[Macca]

Ross,
I can't access that link, do you have the website it was actually on rather than linking through hot rentals
thanks
Macca

[Jas]

There's a line from John T Reed's site that I like. It's in reply to the 'if you only get one good idea from a book, the book's a good purchase'. "Raise your standards people, if the author only has one good idea, they should have written an article, not a book!"

Jas

[Mike]

Hi Macca,

The New Zealand Herald article is at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/money/moneystorydisplay.cfm?storyID=2045428&thesection=money&thesubsection=investment&thesecondsubsection=propertyinvestment

Real estate writers sharpen their pens
08.06.2002
By ANNE GIBSON

The John T Reed article called John T. Reed's analysis of Dolf de Roos' book Real Estate Riches is at http://www.johntreed.com/DeRoos.html

Mike

[geoffw]

Originally posted by Jas
There's a line from John T Reed's site that I like. It's in reply to the 'if you only get one good idea from a book, the book's a good purchase'. "Raise your standards people, if the author only has one good idea, they should have written an article, not a book!"

Jas Jas,

It depends on the idea.

If the idea was to build a carport, then I could have got it from a forum post.

If, as the idea I got from the first de Roos book was, led me to but two more IPs, then that was really worth the cost of the book.

And that idea took a couple of chapters to sink in. Not the principle, but the practice.

[Les]

I agree with you, Geoff - but then, I wouldn't expect a more measured response from John Reed - he has the biggest chip on his shoulder....

Of course that is personal opinion .... Any differing opinions out there??

Regards

[fredo]

I decided to Email Dolf de Roos and let him know what I thought

I was happy with the reply (attached)

Dolf,
Disapointed would be understating the situation after receiving and reading your book.

$38.00 for 80 pages that I believe are common sense
I wish I could have had a 20 second review in a book shop, thats where it would have stayed

Disappointed.



Hello Frank and thank you for your email.

Believe it or not, we appreciate all feed back from our customers and even though we have the description of each product on our website to view before purchasing, sometimes it takes actually having the product in your hand to determine its worth to you.

This is why we have the following guarantee in place:


Satisfaction Guarantee:
Any product may be returned to Property Prosperity, Inc., for a full product refund within 30-days. Products must be in new condition and shipped back with letter of explanation of return. All refunds will be processed within 14 to 21 business days via check. The only exception to this policy is Software for which no returns are accepted in accordance with industry standards.

[Sunstone]

Dear Fredo,

Good to get a positive e-mail back.

The good thing about product returns is that:

1) Most people don't return the product.
2) Most people when they realise the cost of sending the product back, don't. (Are you going to send the book back to Property Prosperity in their NZ office or the US one?) (May have to cut a new deal with Powwow if it is to be local.)

Nice to keep a customer happy but 9 times of out 10 it is no skin off their nose except for the impact a bad review/publicity can have on future sales.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

[Jas]

Originally posted by geoffw
Jas,

It depends on the idea.

If the idea was to build a carport, then I could have got it from a forum post.

If, as the idea I got from the first de Roos book was, led me to but two more IPs, then that was really worth the cost of the book.

And that idea took a couple of chapters to sink in. Not the principle, but the practice.

True, but it is a bit of a wake up call. Makes me more selective in my book buying (espically when the one good idea can picked up from the forum).

BTW: what was the idea that lead you to buy 2 more IPs?

Jas

[geoffw]

BTW: what was the idea that lead you to buy 2 more IPs?Jas,

Something pretty basic actually. Just the fact that you really had to work hard, looking at a lot of properties. I'd been fairly laid back about if before. The 100:10:3:1" rule (look at 100 properties, put in offers on 10, try finance for 3, buy 1" made some sense (well, except for the finance bit- I'd have been arranging finance before I started). It made me realise that I had to put some real work in. I was fairly laid back at that stage.

It also happened at a time when I was recovering from a severe financial setback, and reawakened my interest.

Some very nice (and surprising) valuations on two properties helped a lot.