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*A Book Review*

Building Wealth One House At A Time

By John W. Schaub

by Michael C. Gray

December 3, 2010

John Schaub has been investing in real estate for over 37 years. He principally buys and holds residential real estate. Mr. Schaub also teaches others how to invest in real estate. You might have heard of one of his students, Robert Allen, who wrote Nothing Down. Schaub cautions that "If you buy more than you can manage, nothing down can lead to nothing left."

In the book Building Wealth One House At A Time, Schaub makes what he teaches in his seminars available to a wider audience.

I have seen and heard John Schaub in person. He is an approachable "guy next door." He obviously loves what he does, and enjoys just walking through neighborhoods, looking for empty houses.

Schaub has a 10/10/10 rule for making good deals buying a home for investment:

  1. Make no more than a 10% down payment.
  2. Pay no more than 10% interest.
  3. Buy at least 10% under the market.

In this book, Schaub gives good, common-sense advice about finding desirable homes to buy, understanding seller's motivations, finding good renters, and selling homes.

For the most part, Schaub believes it's best to "farm" or work mostly in neighborhoods located close to your home. Find neighborhoods that you wouldn't mind living in, with neighbors who care for their homes and with good schools.

As an investor, your job is to find opportunities to buy and sell homes, engineer deals, find renters and manage properties. Your job is not to do rehabilitation work, unplug toilets, or mow lawns. Hire people to do the manual labor. You can also provide incentives to your renters to pay their rent on time and solve their own minor repair and maintenance problems.

There are two chapters of special interest for those who are serious about investing in residential real estate. One is "Eight Steps to Quitting Your Day Job" and the second is "Making It Big On Little Deals," outlining a plan to make your million in real estate by buying at least one house each year for ten years.

It's clear from reading Schaub's book that being a serious residential real estate investor is a business requiring time, study and serious effort. You finish the book with the feeling, "I can do this."

If you are interested in becoming a residential real estate investor, you really should have Building Wealth One House At A Time in your library and go to one of Schaub's seminars. His is one of the most reasonable ones available with good, practical information.

Buy it on Amazon: Building Wealth One House at a Time: Making it Big on Little Deals.

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