My four-year-old the property investor

by Cam McLellan

193 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Victor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm clearly not the target audience for this book, it being targeted to his children, so take this review with a pinch of salt.

The author is clearly has a passion for properties, so that may come with some bias that may be felt through the book.

The good

First off, I think this book may be perfect for those who wants to get started investing in properties. It provides reasons why you should do it. The last part of the book is a step-by-step guide to actually getting started. I think that was the most helpful bit of the book. If you already want to get into property investments, skip the first three parts and jump straight to the guide. If you are unsure of whether you want to jump in, the first few parts are dedicated to convincing you to do so.

The not-so-good

I personally found the argument for choosing property as a vehicle for investment vs other vehicles to be pretty weak. Case in point (and perhaps the only other investment that the author talks about) is shares vs properties. I feel like the author took a straw-man approach to argue against investing in shares, and further analysis would yield a different result.

It sounded like a lot of advise came from a position of privilege, where they have access to certain resources, and being able to tap on past experiences of experienced property investor relatives. This may not be accessible to everyone, and without those guides, it may be really easy to make bad investments even with their advice.

I found that the author tends to downplay the risk and holding cost of investing in properties. Definitely will have to see a professional for the actual risks and holding costs, since they may vary with different properties. And I do not believe that risks can be eliminated, only accounted for.

Overall this book isn't my cup of tea. Various people may have different takeaways and it's a short read, so I'd still recommend reading it. As per anything related to finances, I'm not a financial advisor so seek a professional (if you want to).

[Timothy Omaji · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical and straight forward approach to building wealth via property portfolio.


Switching lenders per property in the beginning stages of portfolio was a concept I had never come across.

Very helpful book

[Nelson Larkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight,
- be ruthless in criteria
- buy in growth areas on fringe of capital cities, near developing areas eg. Westfields
- buy under the median, low deposit 5/10 percent, claim equity, then duplicate, never sell.

[Pavel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear and concise. I love it!
There could be more info on finance and putting your team together, but otherwise a very good introduction with several great tips.
It's interesting that the preferred strategy is so different from other some authors (Steve McKnight...).

[Christine Meunier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed but straight talking guide to investing and how it can be used to generate passive income and develop wealth.

[Elayaraja Kaliyaperumal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teaches about Property investment techniques