Building Wealth One House at a Time

by John W. Schaub

Make your first million and earn a steady income with this updated, essential guide to real estate investing

The collapse in real estate prices from 2007 through 2012 was the most significant event in the real estate industry since the Great Depression. But today, with the real estate market rebounding, a new generation of investors is entering the field, eager to make their fortune.

Building Wealth One House at a Time, 2nd Edition provides you with a practical way to create wealth through an ethical approach of buying, financing, and managing property. Renowned real estate expert John W. Schaub takes you through his 9-step program and explains how to accumulate one million dollars worth of houses debt free in any market, while earning a steady cash flow.

This invaluable guide presents fresh strategies for buying and financing property, reflected in six new chapters on topics such as real estate cycles, financing real estate purchases, negotiation techniques, and retirement investing.

You ll learn how to:

Finance real estate purchases without going to a bank
Recognize and capitalize on real estate cycles
Improve your negotiation skills in any situation
Avoid common and costly mistakes
Create cash flow that lasts forever, and much more

Building Wealth One House at a Time, 2nd Edition reveals how virtually anyone can accumulate houses debt free and earn an income for life.
"

Genres: Business, Finance, Personal Finance, Nonfiction, Money, Buisness, Entrepreneurship

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 2004

Reviews

[Kevin Luo · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first real estate books I have read and this was a re-read. A very solid book for beginners with some very solid principles mixed in with a few complex ideas. As a whole, there are portions that I believe are very fundamentally strong and intuitive for beginners to understand, however there are some complex portions of the book that I still have yet to understand. Schaub's principle focuses on 10/10/10 rule, which breaks down to purchasing a property with 10% down, with less than 10% interest, and buy at least 10% under the market. He then recommends the buy-and-hold strategy to purchase one house per year and hold onto them until they double in value. I think the principles are sound when it comes to his philosophy and the length of time allows investors to ride the ebb and flow of various markets. However, I think some of the components of the 10/10/10 rule may be difficult to adhere well to depending on the individual. Sections about tenants and negotiation are strong as well. A final critique point is about the financing and level of this book, as it likely catered towards those who are well-versed in real estate concepts and not for complete beginners. A strong recommendation.

[Sashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book if you are looking to get started on Real Estate Investment. The very introduction impressed me which says "I have helped thousands of others make their first million buying houses. " It starts out by saying why buying houses rather than a commercial property is better.
Some of the things that you will learn from the books are

- Finding ways to spot best deals
- Buying and selling with agents
- Selling on lease/Option to generate larger profits
- Borrowing without having to go to bank
- Getting you house free and clear

[Chad Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my top 5 real estate investing books. Must read. Solid, timeless advice. Don't let it's simplicity deceive you.

[Will Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. Felt like the perfect entry book into the real estate realm. Parts felt outdated/irrelevant since it was written before the internet, but the general principles were really well explained.

[Josh Summers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good and informative but a little outdated

[Katie Burkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very comprehensive book for those who have zero previous knowledge of buying investment properties. My husband and I are testing the waters to possibly buy a passive-income property, and I found his advice on dealing with tenants particularly helpful. I definitely have more risk aversion than he does, but trying to buy one home per year with his 10/10/10 plan doesn’t seem too out-there! I really appreciate how he seems to try and give his readers the confidence to go this road alone. I had read a book by female CPA who basically said “go ahead and hire an attorney, a CPA, a property manager, a handyman, a realtor” and I’m just like ummmm so I will literally be losing tens of thousands of dollars with this model, cool. Mr. Schaub gives you the tips and tricks to have the confidence to try it on your own.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic book as an introduction to buying and selling houses. Has some good checklists and info on finding property, negotiating, managing tenants, etc. It's a good book as an overview of how people make a living buying and selling many houses, even if they don't have a lot of money on hand.

[Zak Schmoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well-written book about the power of purchasing single-family houses. To be honest, I never really thought much about that as most of the time I am hunting for multiunit, but the author does make a compelling case as to why they may be value in moving in this direction. All that being said, most of the analytical tools that he talks uses to evaluate deals pretty much apply across the board no matter what kind of house you're buying.

Although this section does not directly apply to me as I utilize property managers to help with this, this book does have a very good section on finding and working with tenants fairly.

When I read the title of this book, I didn't connect that it was literally talking about just one family houses, but it was a good read overall.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book. A lot of the legal aspects and concepts for tax reduction are only useful in the USA. Other than that, this book provides a useful overview and summary with rough steps of how you should go about finding deals on property and what you should be thinking about along the way. It covers many cases from buying, selling, browsing foreclosure deals, trimming your portfolio at the right times, negotiating mortgage rate discounts and much more.

One thing I found very interesting was the fact that it mostly focused on single-family homes. Contrary to the preconception that multi-family units are the way to go when it comes to investing in real-estate. Most of the arguments for going with single-family homes were very sound and provided an interesting perspective.

[Alexa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I learned anything from this book.
Like....anything.
And yet I went in knowing basically nothing about real estate investing.
There's a lot of very general guidelines, but no real "how-to" in this book.
It's made with Americans in mind. Not so handy for a Canadian.
This book really isn't that old (I read the updated 2nd edition), but some of the advice seems so incredibly dated. It's akin to your grandfather giving you advice on how to get a job: "Just go in the store and ask the manager for a job! He'll love your charisma and probably hire you on the spot!" Uh-huh, sure.

[Rachel Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buy at a deep discount and rent out houses and once they're paid off from the renters payments and have doubled in value, you'll have a million dollars once you sell them. That's the premise anyway. I'm not sure if I'm committed to this strategy and it seems like a lot of work and risk- but it was a well written and researched book.

[Mario · Rating 2 out of 5]

My big gripe with this book is it really didn't detail HOW to do something. It talked about the benefits of certain actions without a gameplan. For example, the author discusses the advantages of owner financing, closing within a week, and knowing how to write contracts. He doesn't detail how to actually do any of that though. As a result, most of the potential value was lost in this book.

[Anuj Tyagi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent concepts; however, the concepts are more relevant for those countries where the rental yield is high. Positive cash flow in a residential unit in India is only possible if you commit to a huge down payment thereby bringing down your EMI’s

[Azat Jumayev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with a reader like me!!!!

It is well written and practical to apply. Rather than theory, the pages and data provide invaluable information for a little money!!!

[Deon Ashleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me tons of information and made me feel like I can buy and rent my first property. I can do this, and so can you!

Schaub offers hundreds of useful tips from his twenty years of experience, and these tips will save you a bunch of time, money, and effort.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informational

The book gave me mny perspective to think about as a person that is new to real estate. He talked about the process in detail and how he think it should be done, in many ways. It was a great read and I have taken a lot from it.

[Stella C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a beginner perspective, there are some parts hard to understand without additional searching by myself. But it contains valuable tips for buying a house for passive income. I’m currently reading another book related to real-estate, and will reread again to see if I can get more out of this book.

[Vince · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a beginner, this book was very helpful. Has tips and advice from a wide angle and covers many aspects of getting started in real estate. Will definitely be coming back to use as reference

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book about houses as investments. Really went into more detail than I actually wanted so I skimmed a bunch. This is the book to read when you’re about to actually apply it.

[Jonathan Wylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the strategy I am going to use but I appreciate some of the thoughts.

[K Sagolsem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book

[Gilberto De Leon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will def be a re-read. I’m a rookie investor that just locked in our first door. This book amongst others guided me with solid and analytical information!!!!!

[zach gring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great meaty book!

What a great book.from start to finish! Ill have to find more by this author. Thank you for the time of writing it.

[Yves · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read which I chopped into manageable chunks. Needs more emphasis on the competence of the contractor.

[Josh Hollin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful for aspiring real estate investors. Lots of ideas. Informative with concrete real world examples and strategies.

[Rohith Reddy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super generic book

[Gary Sonnenberg]

Just skimmed the 2nd half. May revisit it again someday.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information

[Gabby kampman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for the simple concepts of real estate investing and managing for your financial future. But out dated so not too much data on how to make places cash flow because they all did back then

[Cameron Floyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about investing in single family homes