Income for Life-From Real Estate: How the Tortoise Got Rich [With CDROM]

This a great book on investing in income producing real estate. It focuses on three areas of why real estate investing makes sense: a) cash flow from annually increasing rents b) tax savings through depreciation of the property and c) equity gain by the renter paying down the loan.No other real estate books I have read have explained these concepts this thoroughly (and believe me I have read a lot of r.e. books!) with real world examples and hard numbers.This book is not about get-rich quick schemes. We've all seen these claims: "Quit your job in 2 months!", "Buy homes with no money down!", etc. If you are looking for something like that, try a different book. This book is about growing wealth over time. Just like the title says "Income for Life"...

I bought the book at one of Al's seminars. I really liked it, so I bought one for my sister in Oregon to read. We have decided to become partners and follow Al's plan. We love the idea of not having to deal with tenants and earning tax-free income. My sister is an accountant and says she can't believe she hasn't thought of this before.

[Another reviewer] doesn't get it! This book is about INVESTING, not LANDLORDING or MANAGING. The difference is that investing is essentially passive, while the others are really a job which requires you to live near your "investments" and to become expert at their many nuances. True investing uses hired experts to do the work, freeing you to pursue your normal life. Your wealth builds without requiring you to work. If you move, or retire, or become sick or disabled, or just take a long trip, all of your investments continue unaffected. Twenty years ago investing in income property was mostly landlording and managing properties and tenants. The advent of true professional management, with its own professional organizations, certifications, and code of ethics has opened the door for Al Lee's method of investing. Also, this book includes the most comprehensive evaluation criteria (including computerized tools to help you) of properties available anywhere. The evaluation is based on objective financial criteria (as it should be for an investment), not some subjective feeling that you are "getting a good deal".

This book gives a very realistic method for investing in income property. It teaches you to be an investor, not a landlord! If you've ever tried being a landlord and dealing with the problems, the tenants, bad checks, and so forth, you will definitely appreciate the superiority of Al Lee's method. I have tried both ways now and I KNOW!Dealing with good professional property managers (PPM's) is definitely the way to go. I could go an a 3-month trip to Australia if I wanted to (I do!) and everything will run just as well as if I were home. When I did not use PPM's I was tied to a "job" dealing with trivial issues and (worst) tenants.If you buy stock in GM you don't have to become an expert at labor-management relations, or welding, or even selling cars--you are an INVESTOR. Al's method of owning income properties teaches you to be a true investor; literaly anyone ought to be able to do it.There are plenty of books on how to be a landlord. If you want to learn a new "job", read them. Having been there, I prefer being an investor and this book is the one that taught me how. I've even joined Al's investor club at RentHouses org and own properties a thousand miles from where I live.

I have long known that many successful people believe in investing in real estate, but I never really understood why. It seemed to me that real estate values went up and down just like the stock market, so investing in real estate was no better than buying gold coins or penny stocks. This book explained it to me in a way that made a heck of a lot of sense. I now understand why CERTAIN TYPES of real estate investing are far better than just putting my money into a mutual fund. Al Lee explains it better than anyone else I have read, I always thought that people who had tax-free incomes must be doing something illegal. Now I see that it is perfectly legal and not even that difficult to do. I thought the book was great, but I now also subscribe to the free website and the articles Al publishes on the website have added a lot, too. I am now working on buying my first investment property. I am following the instruction in the book and using the spreadsheets and it all works like it is supposed to. I am buying them in another state using a professional manager that Al recommended and they are TERRIFIC to work with. I intend to buy as many more properties as I can. Thanks, Al.