Landlording on Autopilot Paperback – September 8, 2006

The book is phenomenal, I can’t put it down. I’m more studying it than I am reading it. I’ve been a landlord of a 4 units now for about 2 years, and wow, I can’t say how much this book has impressed me. So far the best “tip” I’ve taken away from here has been the “your tenants are your employees!” mentality. That for me has made value of this book it’s weight in gold x100! Also, the clause in the rental agreement at the beginning where the rent appreciates yearly at 2.9% is genius! I have a unit coming up for renewal, and I am having trouble sending a letter asking for a rent increase. Having a tenant (employee, lol) agree to yearly rent increases (COLAs) at the initial lease signing will be a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.Don't believe the naysayers on this one guys. Those forms are free and I just downloaded them last night. If you happen to miss any or can't download some of them just email Mike and he'll get them them to you right away! That's what I did, and I had the remainder of forms I was missing within a day. Most authors would NEVER even reply to an email.Life is about going and getting what you want. Don't sit around and b!¥€h about something because you expect to have it served to you on a silver platter! Go out and grab it, or make your own path people. We're supposed to be investors, not welfare recipients!As a last resort ALL the forms are already there in the actual book for you! It won't take long to produce your own version of them if you take the time to do so.Those are my two cents.

Just to cut through the chatter here, THE FORMS ARE FREE ONCE AGAIN. So relax and settle the hyperventilating. Hell, don't even buy the book and you can still get them free, right on his website, right now.That said, it's worth the under-twenty-bucks price for the book, even if just to cop a few killer attitudes.I manage 6 units at the moment, and they are in lower end areas of town, not bad but not the best. The ones Mike describes as "cash flow kings" with the harder to deal with tenants.Now, I don't know about his (perhaps) higher-end tenants (if he has those, he's a bit coy with his exact "constituent" makeup), but this kind of education, mentorship and even help for homeownership sort of training for these folks I suspect is going to be PERFECT for my kind of tenant. Some might call it a bit patronizing, but he advocates taking a training and business-partnership route with tenants. Thus far I have been the "happy to help on-call repairman" guy, but I knew that was going to change sooner or later. Mike helped me clarify what to think, how to act, how to inform and how to be fair (a lot of the stuff he says is very fair, albeit less than we might be used to doing). His paradigm is very close to fully fair, I think.Anyhow, with the forms included, this is a steal.The book has some stuff that is superfluous, for example, he's got 100's of units, I have 6. I doubt I'll be throwing parties for suppliers and providers any time soon, although I took the spirit of that and might be able to translate that into other lesser gestures of appreciation for my suppliers. For example. So none if it is UNhelpful.I enjoyed this book and I derived a valuable benefit from it and would recommend it to any landlord...no wait, PROPERTY MANAGER.

We are small time investors with a total of 7 units that we have had for about 2.5 years. I bought this book after a recommendation from a more experienced investor. We are trying to advance to the next level and have hit a plateau . The book has many great ideas and ways to increase your current profits and spend less time managing your properties. The tenants as employees is a shift in the traditional view of "the customer". It took a little thought to see where he was coming from but Mike's assessment is correct. Being new to the industry I read a lot of books on real estate investing. I believe that this book is more relevant for investors with some experience managing properties. Beginners can certainly learn a lot from this book but there are a few things that will not be truly understood until you have been there. I believe some of the poor reviews can be attributed to this.I would recommend this book to any investor looking for ways to spend less time managing their properties.

Ok, Full disclosure. I was offered another set of forms for an unbiased review of this book. I had previously read this book while in Seattle. Having just bought another property on the east coast, I really really wanted the forms and information that was offered in this book (i did not want to buy it again though)... So, I found Mike Butler's website, provided my email address and downloaded all the forms that I really loved the first time around. Now, This book is truely great for any investor looking to find great tenants and maintain those tenants with minimal turnover. The infomation is a tad bit dated (I.E. mention of beepers, ect), but can be put to use even EASIER with modern technology. I've read at least 4 managment books and this is the one I wanted for screening tenants this time around. My favorite part of the book focuses on how to make and accept rental applications while giving the landloard an ability to choose the best tenants all without fear of violating fair rental laws or losing a lawsuit. This is a great book for anybody looking to invest in rental property! Like I said, I wasn't paid or offered anything physical for my review. Just acess to another great set of forms, So I jumped at the oprotunity. If you are thinking of investing in real estate rentals, READ THIS BOOK!

Pretty basic advice in here, not much to hang your hat on. Spends almost a full chapter explaining why you should call yourself a "Property Manager" instead of a "Landlord"...