7 Steps to Wealth: The Vital Difference Between Property and Real Estate

by John L. Fitzgerald

Get the most out of property investment and secure your financial future 7 Steps to Wealth is the only real estate book in Australia endorsed by three of Australia's property billionaires. It shares John L. Fitzgerald's own 35-year proven property strategy, supported statistically and with real life case studies from readers of earlier editions. Now in its 8th edition the book is completely up-to-date with the latest census data, location criteria and growth forecasts. Most importantly the book exposes the difference between property and real estate, proving that it’s only the land that appreciates and that the buildings that sit on the land actually depreciate. Indeed 7 Steps to Wealth uses Warren Buffet’s secret of compound growth but adapted for Australian property investors. Fitzgerald proves that certain residential land is Australia's best growth asset –– and will continue to be given current record population growth. •          Unlock the secret power of compound growth and make it work for you •          Avoid the common mistakes that most property investors make •          Read case studies and testimonials from millionaires using the 7 step strategies •          Understand how to safely build wealth in property, be cashflow positive and still get a tax deduction. With Australia's record population growth, there is no better time for Australians to use this proven strategy to safely build wealth for a comfortable retirement, one that doesn’t mean relying on government welfare.

Genres: Finance

224 pages, Paperback

Published May 3, 2018

Reviews

[Wenny H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has solid advice on wealth creation in the style of aggresive investing (lots of leveraging). Relatively quick wealth creation. Includes tidbits on valuing residential investment property, and the part about land vs building value is a new concept that's worth bearing in mind. Emphasis on investment vs. for personal use!

Con: did not address the risk involved with over-leveraging, and has exceedingly (or just did not address) positive outlook on property value growth and tenancy uptime. Presumed best case scenario outcome. Tread carefully.

[Nik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book had numerous helpful insights in Australian property investing, however, the author clearly wrote it as a tool to get people to buy into his property management/investment business.
Notable cons:
*unsupported or untrue assumptions (such as property prices have been and are guaranteed to keep doubling in Australia every 8-10 years. They haven't, certainly not outside of the big 4 capital cities. The numbers provided are never adjusted for inflation, property management costs etc.)
* talking about property investment as the only way, no mention of importance of diversification
* weak risk management framework for massive amounts of debt
I'd encourage readers to double check all stats provided.

[Timothy Omaji · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome book that lays out strong and functional skills to build a successful property portfolio.

The general tone of the book is very empowering and simple to understand.

I like that John gave purpose to building wealth beyond just personal financial gain.

Cheers Victory for the recommendation

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on property investment that tends to take on more risk than other books I’ve read. Although highly leveraged property investment strategies aren’t new, the author sees no issue in advocating carrying significant debt load to build a portfolio. Doesn’t really explain clearly how to protect yourself from a market that may negatively affect returns with millions in loan debt, other than to insure against lost income.

Introduced land value vs. property value as a metric which I had not read about in previous books. Interesting concept for valuing property using similar metric based on $/sqm rather than recent sales. Plenty of interesting insight about how to plan your investment strategy but doesn’t deep dive where to find the information to identify the locations yourself. Advocates for bank valuations to be disclosed when purchasing, which I agree is sensible and should be standard.

The author talks about the tax benefits of property, including negative gearing and the higher depreciation values that can be claimed for new builds. It sounded like this makes up a considerable part of the strategy, which is unusual given in the early pages it seems the author wouldn’t advocate for house and land packages as they are not predominately owner-occupier, and the land component is much smaller in comparison to established properties. Later in the book he promotes house and land packages, claiming his business made investors millions in such estates over the years (which would be true given all property has gone up in value over time, but just how much % return in these investments provided was not explained). Doesn’t disclose depreciation costs are repayable should you sell the property.

I consider this a warning flag as no one should be investing based purely on tax strategies to remain cash flow positive, given policymakers can change anytime. This kind of thinking has the potential to undermine a portfolio, particularly one that’s so highly leveraged in property like recommended in this book. In my opinion, tax benefits are a bonus and should not make up the foundations of your strategy.

This is very much a book about maximising your property portfolio by taking on a highly leveraged position with significant debt loads, with no diversification into other asset classes and no mention to suggest who this strategy might be suitable for. Quick check of the authors business websites doesn’t show any professional licencing, so seek appropriate advice before implementing the content of this book.

[Wendy Moorcroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s refreshing (if not somewhat surprising) to find a book written by somebody who is obviously incredibly genuine yet involved in real estate at the same time. I didn’t think such a person existed!

John explains the 7 steps to wealth in such a way that by the end of the book, you fully understand the process and what the next step should be.

Thank you John…..I, for one, am glad I found you!

[TJ Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This seems like an incredibly well informed and easily explained book, putting it into practice is certainly another thing altogether. While our home has nearly double what we still owe in equity, getting a bank to give us money for investing in more property is near impossible with rates where they are at the moment. So yet again, while these books say you can start off with nearly nothing, there is still the element of serviceability.

[Ashlea Skupien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the honest, no rubbish approach John took when writing this book. He talks from personal experiences.

It is also refreshing to read a property book based on Australian Banks, Australian property cycles etc.

It was very informative.

[Gaurav · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice book and summarises well what one need to care for when considering real-estate as investment option. The only shortcoming I felt was, that it is written in Australian context and is not a generic guide as the calculations and assumptions differ. E.g. when discussing the negative gearing benefits as government policy, John mentions how it was not brought in effect in retrospective in Australia and removed couple of years later, which may not be true for other countries. Indian government has taken similar measure to limit negative gearing benefits but it was made applicable to everyone impartially. It still is a good book if readers can customize the lessons to respective context and do their math about investing. Moreover, I appreciate John mentioning that true meaning of wealth creation is not in only accumulating wealth but also enjoying it and knowing how to pass it on meaningfully, the last chapter "be all you can be" is about that, he mentions about his school for underprivileged - Toogoolawa and how he created custodian, specifically to support Togoolawa and its work of helping boys to follow that advice and be all they can be.

[Alex Rogers · Rating 2 out of 5]

A useful book for anyone considering investing in property - not a shill for his own narrow interests or selling a product, its a pretty good primer to investing and leveraging. But still - property is theft :P

[Jane Potter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned some good points. I'm not sure if I'll ever put myself under this much risk and debt, but motivated to go for more than one investment property. And I'll think 'land'.

[Angela Dimos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book for it's simplicity, accuracy and realistic view of property investment.

[Imran · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book written by a spruiker to promote his business.