How I turned $1000 into a Million in Real Estate in my spare time by William Nickerson

This book was originally published in 1959. It was republished in 1969 and 1984 under updated names, to include how he has continued to expand his $1000 investment 10 yrs and 25 yrs after the first publishing. I may read the followups and report back, but overall, this book and/or one of the followups should be required reading for all potential landlords. It takes the nitty gritty of what being a real estate investor really is. You are making this for an investment not to create a job.


-Looking at properties dogmatically and identifying when it is time to improve and move forward to expand your portfolio.
-Finding the right deal each time as to not force yourself into a bad decision when purchasing.
-Showing you the real numbers during his growth process. Even though he is using values from the 50s which have little reality in the 21st century, the financial concepts are sound to this day.

The focus on educating yourself to know enough about every aspect of the process as to know when someone working for you or working against you cannot take advantage of you. His goal is to train you to be deliberate in all your decisions. Know how you are going to get out before you get into an investment.

Overall, the takeaway from this book is. Be deliberate in your investing and eventually it will pay off exponentially.


Will you read this book again? I think I will read the updated versions to see the commonality. I would recommend this original.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Public Library. Since there are 2 updates to the book, I would leave this one at the library and purchase the 1984 version if at all.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

Super Freakonomics by Stephen J Dubner and Steven D Levitt

This book is a followup to the best selling Freakonomics by Stephen J Dubner and Steven D Levitt. If you enjoyed their eclectic choice of economic paradoxes before, you will not be disappointed by Super Freakonomics. Whether describing the supply and demand of prostitution based on customer demographics or laying out the fundamental problems with the global warming debates that are pervasive in our political arena currently, they use entertainment to make you feel smarter about the economics of the world.

An economic purist might take offense to the simplistic approach of this author team of a rogue economist and reporter at heart. The wordplay they use to make their points can at times take advantage of the ignorant reader, but you can't find fault in much of the data they are collecting and reporting on.

Will you read this book again? Probably not, but I would recommend it to others.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Public Library. It is entertaining, but not something I would likely come back to.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

So you want to start a Business by Edward D. Hess and Charles F. Goetz

This book is a practical guide to the things you should consider before starting a business. I can all but guarantee that there would be far less people starting businesses and far less business failures if every new business owner read this in advance.

The book is an easy read for the parts that you are not familiar with. If you already understand basic balance sheets and cash flow and operating costs and expenses, parts of the book are a bit monotones. If you do not understand them, it can be a bit overwhelming, but these are things that need to be considered.

The authors made it very easy to review this book by laying out business rules and lessons learned. Each business rule and lesson is laid out in detail at the end of each chapter and all of the lessons and rules are in an easily referenced section at the end of the book.

Will you read this book again? Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Personal. This is a good reference book for any time a new business opportunity that you may need to review and the rules and lessons are easily accessible at the end of the book.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN