Introduction

Tens of thousands of ordinary people have made millions of dollars investing in the most humble of real estate investments, the single-family house. I am one of them, and I have a unique perspective because I have helped thousands of others make their first million by buying houses.

Buying, renting, and selling houses is not only highly profitable but also helps people in your community. By treating people fairly, you develop a reputation for helping others, and many will refer their friends and family to you when they need to sell, buy, or rent.

By providing a supply of decent, affordable housing, you help young families live near their work while they save enough to buy their own homes. When you buy a house from someone who needs to get rid of it, you relieve him of a burden. When you sell a house and finance it, you often can help someone buy their first home.

Many ordinary people are now millionaires not by winning the lottery but by systematically buying houses. Rather than put their trust in a company pension plan or the government, they have taken control of their financial destiny. By doing what they have done, you can change your life, become financially independent, and be in control of your financial future. It takes less time than you think. Simply follow the advice in this book.

You don’t need a lot of education to make a lot of money in real estate. It’s not that complicated. In fact, too much education can cause you to overthink and develop analysis-paralysis.

The one thing that keeps most people poor is the fear of buying that first house. Some of my most successful students have taken a year or more to buy their first house. That’s fine, as long as you buy it. The second house will be easier, and as you get better at it, you will really enjoy the process of finding and buying a good deal.

MY FIRST HOUSE

It’s not even important that your first house is a great deal. The first house I bought, I paid retail price for and made a 20 percent down payment. The good news is that I could rent it for a high enough amount to pay the expenses and pay the loan. The reason it has been one of my best investments is that I still have it. The house is paid for, and it is worth many times what I paid for it.

An investor with a doctorate in finance would never have bought that house, and he would have never held it without refinancing it. He would have been concerned with his rate of return, his lack of leverage, and his running out of depreciation. He would have never turned a $7,000 investment into more than $400,000, not counting the rent that was collected. The annual rent I collect today is more than double my entire down payment.

Building wealth one house at a time does not require a lot of education, money, or even time. It does require one thing—that you buy a house and hold it until it makes you some serious money. This book will show you step by step how you can build your fortune one house at a time.