Not Exactly the Stress-Free Service It's Billed To Be!

REVIEW OF ANDY SHAW'S PASSIVE INVESTMENTS PORTFOLIO BUILD SERVICE PROMOTED IN:

Money For Nothing And Your Property For Free
How to create money from property investing whether you want to become good at it or not!
Author: Andy Shaw
ISBN: 0-9554041-0-X

By all means, buy the book, but do beware that you'll then be on Andy's database through your free month's trial of his membership site and you'll then start receiving invitations to presentations (delivered by Andy's partner, Greg Ballard) to entice you to join Passive Investments' portfolio build "service".

I think they may have stopped doing these presentations for the time being and I would not be at all surprised if this is because their strategy simply doesn't work in a downward or sideways market.

I always make it clear when I talk that I'll never get involved in something that I wouldn't buy into myself and in the beginning, Passive Investments' service looked to have all bases covered. Unfortunately, cracks can appear later and you don't have to now search very far to uncover unhappy clients (which Passive will tell you don't exist!). I can point you in the direction of half a dozen without even having to think too hard, and I don't have access to all their clients so these are just the few I know.

When I speak at events, people frequently come up to me and ask what I think of Andy Shaw and Passive Investments and I have gone from initially thinking they're great to being non-committal to feeling the need to really spill the beans as their service has deteriorated.

The main comments are that once they have your money - and it's a considerable amount (around £40K up front - NON-REFUNDABLE, EVEN IF THEY DO A BAD JOB! and £15K per property at this time, I believe) their communication is dire.

More worrying, however, is that their terms of service dictate that you have a bank account opened in your name to which you have little or no access but they control. This has resulted in several client's accounts going overdrawn (yes, mine included), through no fault of the client. It begs the question "what are they doing for their money?"

To cap it all, they managed to get a CCJ in my name at the one property they'd bought for me. Understandably, I was distraught and attempted, even using the help of a third party, to find a resolution I was happy with, but Passive still thought they should dictate the terms of this resolution with Greg Ballard having the audacity to still insist that my fee was non-refundable as if they would be doing me a favour by negotiating, and this was after spending weeks chasing them to respond to my pleas to get things sorted out.

When I posted this information on my blog, Passive responded by sending a threatening letter from their solicitor citing "defamatory text." Naturally, I went back and double-checked my facts and found that every word was true, and more besides. According to the managing agents, I'm not the only one of Passive's clients that's been landed with a CCJ!

So I hope the above tells you once and for all what's behind the Passive money-making machine and saves me having to say it over and over when I get asked my opinion of them at events. I now receive regular calls and emails from unhappy clients.

I haven't spoken for them for a very long time, and now you know why I never would again and why I recommend that you steer well clear.

Real Estate Riches: How to Become Rich Using Your Banker's Money
Author: Dolf de Roos, PhD
ISBN-10: 0471711802

Dolf makes the case for using "other people's money" in the same way I do during my talks. It's reassuring when you find that your methods and mentality are shared by massively successful investors.

Of course, there's much more wisdom in this book, but I would especially recommend it as essential reading for all those people who come up to me and say "I want to get into property but I don't like the idea of being in debt."

The book covers viewing properties, analyzing deals, negotiation, increasing value and managing properties in a practical way that's applicable worldwide, even though Dolf is not UK-based. He also tells it like it is with regard to the number of viewings you need to do to find a good deal, but his catchphrase is "the deal of the decade comes along about once a week." So the premise is that if you look often enough, they are there to be found, which is spot on advice.

Dolf is one of Robert Kiyosaki's real estate advisers, so you know he has great credentials.

Overall assessment: It won't suit those who can't translate advice from one country to another or those who need in-depth, how-to help, but it's a classic must-read, in my opinion
Rating:
Reviewer: Maria Davies

no. of reviews: 1
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The back cover blurb calls this "a book that can change your life for the better" and I must admit that my initial reactions was "yeah, yeah, heard that before", because I believed that everything there was to say on the subject of goal setting had pretty much been said and expected this to be just another take on tried and tested methods. Boy was I wrong!

This really is one of those books that can change your life if you take action on what you read. The difference is that this book made me want to take action rather than get me thinking I should take action. The problem with the "should" books, at least for me, is that I rebel against them (nobody's going to tell ME what to do.... even if it does mean I could be more successful, wealthier, taller, sexier, slimmer and happier).

The great thing about Michael's book is that he understands this rebellion and allows it to exist. He addresses every obstacle we face, offers fun and innovative techniques to overcome our "stuckness" and gives us permission not to have to be perfect along the way. In doing so, he turns a lot of conventional wisdom on its head, e.g. instead of starting with uninspiring baby steps, how about starting BIG. This was one of my favourite parts of the book. It got me tingling just reading it. I took action with two things off my list straight away and am easily keeping them going because what I'm doing is big enough to actually feel like I'm making a difference.

The book is well written and entertaining and Michael does a terrific job of bringing his own personality into the book and using his own flaws and past "failures" to illustrate points. I was sorry to finish it and envy anyone who hasn't experienced it yet.

Overall assessment: Buy it, it really WILL change your life for the better
Rating:
Reviewer: Maria Davies

no. of reviews: 1
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