A thorough and accessible introduction to the complex world of real estate investments.
A detailed, step-by-step manual focuses on investing in rental properties and becoming a landlord.
Turner (The Book on Managing Rental Properties, 2016, etc.) begins his guide to accumulating wealth through real estate investment with images of relaxing and enjoying incredible success on a beach before he promptly bursts that bubble for readers: “That is not going to happen, at least not anytime soon.” But he also quickly dispels any notion that real estate investments only benefit those who already have plenty of money. Instead, the author encourages readers from the first chapters to think through long-term financial plans in terms of percentages rather than the often staggering costs of homes in expensive areas. Turner explains this idea of “relative pricing” to help anyone apply his methods to all financial situations while also being realistic: “Often certain investments are working in your town, but they are just not working at your financial level.” Along with his own detailed explanations, he includes numerous graphs, tables, and interviews with other successful investors showing different points of view. Turner addresses specific questions, like “five questions to ask before investing in a fixer-upper” and even how to deal with difficult tenants—the solution involves a metaphor featuring his 18-month-old Yorkie. Although he clearly lays out the steps to investing at any level, Turner never shies away from doses of reality. He plainly states: “Rental property investment has a tendency to take over your life.” With this straightforward, but also highly personal tone, he easily invites readers into his own experiences, making even the most technical explanation feel like it comes from a trusted friend. He also finds clever ways to frame more difficult pieces of advice, keeping a very human element prominent through all the business talking points. “Money is by far not the most important thing in life,” he writes, while also delicately encouraging readers to be vigilant of how their social connections might impact their images as businesspeople. This is the kind of friendly but specific advice he weaves into every chapter.
A thorough and accessible introduction to the complex world of real estate investments.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9907117-9-7
Page Count: 362
Publisher: BiggerPockets
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
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