‘Making Money Out of Property in South Africa’ — a book review
Another book review, yes. I thought this was going to be my January Read but unfortunately it ended up taking me four FULL months to complete this book and I don’t even feel guilty about it. Okay maybe I do — just a little bit.
Anywho, if you have read my book reviews before, you know the drill, but I’ll repeat it: I use a Book Review Template recommended by Ali Abdaal — you can check out his YoutTube Channel here if you are interested in some of the things that keep me busy every now and again.
How I discovered this book:
I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again — I am a YouTube fanatic, I don’t even own a Netflix account — that’s how much I’m into YouTube (and because it’s free). Anways, I discovered ‘Making Money Out of Property in South Africa’ (referred to as ‘this book’ hereafter) on YouTube while I was binge watching Nicolette Mashile’s videos. She actually recommended this book for people that are interest in getting in the property game, so I asked by brother to buy it for me, and he did!
The book in 5 sentences or less:
This book is a step-by-step guide to making it in the property game — from looking for a property, securing finance for it, purchasing and maintaining your property. It could be buying a property to rent it out, to live in, or simply to flip and re-sell. It includes the good and the bad, and most importantly, why it ‘makes sense’ to invest in property.
Impressions:
Following Nicolette Mashile’s ‘What’s Your Move’ that I deeply enjoyed reading, I thought I was more interested in Financial Literacy books, so I thought I’d enjoy this book as well. Unfortunately, this was not the case. It is not the easiest to comprehend, especially when you know very little about the property jargon, credit jargon, etc. I guess with each Chapter I was losing interest, but I soldiered on and finished it. I even read it twice to make up for my loss in interest, haha.
Who should read it:
Every one that is interest in financial freedom, making extra income and you think property is the way to go, this book is definitely for you. Or, if you are simply just curious about how the property game works, this is still for you.
How the book changed me:
Honestly, I have been a little bit eager to invest in property now than I was a year ago but fear is still getting the better of me. But the best commodity you can ever have in life is time. If it makes sense to you to invest in property, then the earlier you start, the better.
My top 3 quotes from the book:
“Fear is possibly the greatest obstacle to embarking on a property transaction” — Page 2
“Banks also know that they have competition from other banks, so they are open to negotiation if they think they will lose a customer” — Page 23.
“I soon learnt that if you go for a cheap quote, not only do you get what you pay for in terms of skills and ability, you get even less than you paid for in terms of materials and finishes” — Page 104. This quote makes me think of the saying that goes, ‘cheap things are expensive.’
Side note: The quotes above can barely stand alone. This is mainly because one chapter ties in with the next, so you’d need to read the book from the beginning in order to make sense of the quotes above.
