New Zealand Real Estate Investors' Secrets by Graeme Fowler

10:38, Feb 18 2009

The idea that there are secrets and systems to making money has always been a little bit of an anathema to me. If there were secrets and something like seven steps to financial nirvana, then we would all be rich and wouldn't be working as wage or salary earners or as business owners.

As you can see a title like Real Estate Investors' Secrets is at first glance a bit of a put-off. But this is one book I make an exception with.

Hawkes Bay-based real estate investor Graeme Fowler has gone out and interviewed 10 people who have all become millionaires from residential property. (What's not clear is whether they have $1 million of equity, or a portfolio of property worth a mill).

There is a wide range of people used in the book (including Fowler) and they are all asked the same questions, such as simple stuff like how old were you when you bought your first property. However they are all asked about their strategies, arranging finance and what makes them successful.

The personal questions add a nice bit of interest to the book, as do the variety of answers.

All the contributors have gone about making their money in a different way. The thread that draws it all together is that they have all used property investment as their vehicle.

As Fowler says none of them are "rocket scientists". "We are all ordinary people just like you. People that have taken the time to learn, to make mistakes, to grow, and above all - to take action."

While the book mightn't be the greatest literary tome on property investment, it is a good honest book with fascinating case studies.

This makes a nice change from other books which range from the ra-ra, hype merchants, to the dry (but worthy) technically inclined ones.

New Zealand Real Estate Investors' Secrets is recommended reading for anyone who wants to learn about property investing from people who have made real money. It's great that the people used in the book have been prepared to share their experiences and knowledge with other people.

(Don't get this book confused with New Zealand Real Estate Secrets, by Andy Gilbert).

Philip Macalister is the editor of Good Returns.

Click here to buy 'Real Estate Investors' Secrets' from Good Returns priced at $29.95 GST incl.