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CREATING WEALTH by Robert G. Allen

CREATING WEALTH

By

Pub Date: April 28th, 1983
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

The guru of Nothing Down (1980) hasn't given up on real estate--though he does concede (in chapter six) that it's ""a very complex beast."" Here, Allen also includes nine false assumptions about money, rive steps to developing a wealthy mindset, tips on overcoming the three major problems that leverage creates, etc. And he gives cursory attention to such conventional commitments as Treasury bills, CDs, money-market funds, rare coins (his own hobby), limited partnerships (for tax shelter as well as profit), and trusts (to minimize liability if anything goes wrong). But at heart Allen remains a landlord, and roughly two-thirds of the text is devoted to accumulating income properties for the lowest possible cash outlay and managing or trading them to secure the highest possible return. As before, access to OPM (other people's money), creative (i.e., precarious) financing techniques, and motivated or flexible (typically, hard-up) sellers are essential to the process. Though Allen does touch on rent/value ratios, demographic trends, tenant-selection criteria, vacancy rates, and related property-owning realities, he concentrates on tricks of the acquisition trade. With straw-man case studies, Allen offers a series of ""How flexible are you?"" phone pitches that might give pause to boiler-room operators. (There are kudos, for instance, for the bankrupt who used his son's unsullied credit to get a fresh start.) As for hard times, that just means less competition and greater opportunities for pros. Given Allen's track record with Nothing Down, he'll probably put this one over too. Impressionable amateurs should beware.