The Challenge

I have many books on real estate. This is the one that moves from abstract ideas which may be excellent to very frank and clear explanation of how to approach real estate, what to look for, how to find worthwhile investments, how to buy them, and on and on and on. It is a great book.

Once I started reading this story I couldn't stop until I was finished! I think it's very inspiring for any new entrepreneur. Does anyone know if they used the real names of people in this book? I did a little googling and I couldn't find them. I'd like to know how they're doing now! One of the main lessons I learned from this book is that you have to be someone like Philip to succeed in business. You have to be someone that just jumps right in, gets busy, and stays on the job all day every day without any letup or any fear. On the other hand, Nora was slow, fearful, and a procrastinator. Those were red flags that she'd have lots of trouble and probably wouldn't make it.

I was compted a copy of this book back in 1991 and it motivated me to try real estate to generate cash flow. At that time 1991-1992 I had been newly divorced and was in a cash flow crunch. I saw a lot of myself in the three people chosen for the challenge. I went to our local library and borrowed copies of Nothing Down and Creating Wealth. By following Robert Allens advice, I was able to buy a nice home for Nothing Down and flip it in 3 weeks for a nice $5,000 profit. To repeat; I did it with nothing down and only minimal sweat equity and I was as green as green can be in real estate. The Challenge provided the motivation and some telephone techniques. Creating Wealth & Nothing Down gave me more ammunition. Nothing Down in particular gave me the strategies to put the deal together. I wish Mr. Allen would re-release this book with perhaps new stories. I thought it was amazing that three people from the unemployment line could do this BUT I was even more amazed that I could do it myself. Thank you Robert Allen for a great, no make that three great books: The Challenge, Creating Wealth and Nothing Down. And glad to see that Nothing Down has been re-released with a new millenium edition.

A truly exciting, rewarding and essential reading for anyone interested in real estate investments! Great book!