I have long thought that “Real Estate Investing” by McLean and Eldred was perhaps the top book for beginning real estate investors. But after reading “Real Estate Investing for Dummies,” I now think the Dummies is equally as good, although it may not cover quite as much ground. Dummies is excellent in what it presents because it written in a manner that is easily understood, it provides sufficient depth, and it covers the key topics.

I particularly like the chapter on “Due Diligence.” The chapter does an outstanding job of describing the components of reviewing books and records, and inspecting a property that you have bid on and have had the bid accepted by the seller. Purchase contracts provide that the sale can be canceled without loss of earnest money if the buyer’s physical inspection isn’t satisfactory. Following the suggestions in this chapter assure that you won’t be surprised with what you get, and gives tips on how to cancel or renegotiate the deal, if you need to.

I also like the final chapter, which lays out in plain English the time tested (non-infomercial guru) principals of how to make money in real estate. Buy when market conditions are conducive to buying, when properties are distressed and available as foreclosures or on favorable terms with seller financing. Add value to properties. Hold on to properties that offer long-term stable growth in rental rates. Refinance to tap into investment property equity and to further your real estate investments. Read…

I was particularly interested in this book, especially as our nation is facing a weakening dollar, because I hear so much nowadays about the foreign markets and how many are investing in and trading currency. Apparently, the Forex market really is an accessible investment that can pay the investor quite well if he or she knows how to get involved in the Forex market and understands how it works.

That is why I felt Burrell’s book was so helpful for me. It explains how the Forex market works, why the United States is such an important player in the world market, how to get involved, and does a great job illustrating the many indexes, factors, and issues that contribute to currency-value fluctuation and the overall global economy. Read…

Few examples from this book that I know I will never use but who knows, other users may find that:

-This book is great if you’re into emacs and vi(m) since it dedicates over 100 pages on these two text editors but I prefer using nano so for me these chapters were more or less wasted.
-This book is great if you’re into shell programming.

Why spend 100+ pages on vim and emacs when at least some pages could’ve been dedicated to a Security Section that this book doesn’t have? Perhaps emacs and vim are important because programming requires a good set of text editors..? Read…

Reflexivity is Soros’s pet theory. He outlined it in the Alchemy of Finance. Basically the idea is that events can become self reinforcing. How does that relate to the mortgage collapse?

The mortgage bubble and collapse was just like any other. Banks and other institutions noticed that lending money was profitable when the economy was expanding. All the loans seemed to be turning out well. The banks were printing money and decided to loan more and more. As more credit became available, the economy continued to perform strongly (the easy availability of money spurs on the economy) causing existing loans to perform even better. Banks were enticed to lend even more. All the while, institutions of all stripes continued to pile on leverage as their investments blossomed. Eventually someone decided to take their chips off the table. All of a sudden, credit came into question. Institutions started to de-lever, worried that they wouldn’t be able to get their money off the table fast enough. No one would extend more credit. Money became scarce. Loans defaulted. The housing market crashed. Read…

“The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew” aptly displays the range of LKY’s sensitivity, insight, and wisdom harvested not only from his personal experience from WWII onwards but also from the experiences of others. As a young Singaporean who has lived in Singapore all her life I thought I was very familiar with this iconic figure who I had often read about from his speeches, newspapers and textbooks. However, his memoirs displayed another angle of his personal self which is rarely seen in the media.

I think it’s a waste that not many young Singaporeans have read this book. Perhaps they should. His writing is powerful but easy to read, and I found myself reading it into the small hours of the night. This book would also appeal to you if you’re interested in Singapore, its policies, and its history. Read…

Including Tips, Tricks, & Strategies to Create a Winning Advertising Plan

I have a burgeoning pet toy company and website, so I was eager to find the best way for me to ensure my website and my company is easily found by people doing web searches.  Reading a bit of the history of web advertising was very interesting to me, how it has evolved and continues to evolve is very useful to understand how it works.

This book really helped me understand exactly what effort was required on my part to make sure that I was able to achieve the results I wanted. It not only helped me figure out the kind of marketing plan I needed, but also helped me simplify it so that I didn’t let the planning side of the marketing overwhelm me.

Additionally, the book covered a lot of useful tips for the actual content we could add to our website. Things like a “privacy policy” or “about us” can be useful to helping us keep customers!

So many words are thrown at us on the internet when it comes to looking for information about advertising your website, this book truly helped me understand what things like “PPC” “Keywords” “Adwords” or “SEO” are!  Thoroughly understanding how a PPC account really works is very useful to someone who would want to set up their own account.

This book really has so much valuable information, it can be a lot of almost overwhelming information for a small non-computer savvy small business owner, but I really think that its an invaluable tool for business owners of all levels. Read…

Reviewed by BidSG.com

For fun, I decided to read some reviews AFTER I had already listened to/read the material, and I was particularly interested in one review that mentioned a conference where the speaker asked “Who has read TGR?” The reviewer stated that 20 or so raised their hands. The next question the speaker asked was “Who’s rich?” Supposedly, all their hands went down. The reviewer then stated “If you’ve read this book and you are NOT rich, please write a review.”

Well, I am not “rich” in terms of monetary value, so I guess that qualifies me.

Let me first start by saying that in Tony Robbins’ great CD program, Personal Power II, one of the first things he says is “It blows my mind how many people purchase tape programs like this AND NEVER USE THEM.” Ahh! So my question to this above-mentioned reviewer is, how many of those 20 people that read the book ACTUALLY USED THE MATERIAL?? People seem to think that if you buy these types of books or CD programs, you automatically become “rich” just because you read the information. Got news for ya, it doesn’t work that way.

It is also worth mentioning that Hill specifically says that there are many characteristics that being “RICH” can imply…and he specifically states that MONEY is LAST on the list.

So I say to this reviewer, that I do consider myself RICH because I have good family, good health, a good job, and good friends. And that’s just for starters!

Now I know everyone is thinking “big deal…what about MONEY?” OK, let me first tell you about my first experience after starting on my long road of “Self Help” materials. After listening to TGR the audio tapes, I decided right then and there that I wanted to make exactly $30,000 in my first year out of college…I graduated in ‘96, and remember that I listened to the audio tapes in ‘95. I thought about this each and every day…whether on purpose, or just casually, it doesn’t really mater…the point is, I had NO OTHER OUTCOME in my mind. I WAS GOING TO MAKE $30,000 (which by the way was a good starting salary back then.) This went on for months, and I was actually excited about the idea, and couldn’t wait to make this money THAT I KNEW I was going to make. I used all the principles described by Hill for my remaining months at college. I KNEW WHAT I WANTED, DEVELOPED A PLAN, AND EXECUTED THE PLAN. Throw in a few prayers here and there and you’ve got the gist of what Hill explains. In late spring I began interviewing when a recruiter for an insurance firm came to interview possible candidates for one of two sales positions. He went to several colleges and interviewed over 100 people. I was offered the job…which I accepted…which paid me, EXACTLY $30,000 as my starting salary.

Coincidence? Or was it the result of the principles I used as described by Hill until they were brought to fruition? I can tell you what I believe, but it doesn’t matter…it will not be BELIEVABLE until you prove it to yourself.

Now here we are, 12 years later, and I’m getting even more from the book. I have a great job, and a superb plan for the future. I am once again using the principles described in his book (which obviously are in greater detail than the tapes) and I am on my way.

So…”Am I RICH?” In monetary terms, I say to that “Not yet.” Am I RICH in other aspects of my life? I say ABSOLUTELY because I’ve used the principles outlined in this book. I’ve gotten in better shape, I’ve strengthened my relationships with my friends and family, I purchased my own house, I have ZERO DEBT (except for my mortgage of course), and things couldn’t be better for me AT THIS TIME.

Bottom line, it all comes down to how you USE THE MATERIAL. If you read it once and say “Where’s my money?” you’ll be disappointed. If you read it AND USE IT you WILL ACHIEVE RESULTS to the degree in which you put the principles to work. It really is that simple.

Read this book, use what’s in it, and you will better your life. Will you be a millionaire because of it? Perhaps…Perhaps not. It’s all up to you.