Dolf de Roos Reviews and Ratings

Background

Dolf de Roos was born in New Zealand and received a PhD in Engineering from the University of Canterbury. He began investing in property as an undergraduate student after studying the business practices of various wealthy individuals throughout Australia.  In the 1990s, de Roos formed a company, Property Ventures Limited, to further his involvement in property investment holdings, which are mostly in New Zealand. The company acquires, develops, and sells real estate.

Then, after experiencing personal success in real estate investing and publishing eight property investment books, including the New York Times bestseller “Real Estate Riches,” de Roos decided to travel the globe and speak at investor conferences.

Target Market

His books cover such a wide range of real estate investments that it seems every type of investor may find some value in his books. And de Roos’ website offers guides on commercial real estate investing, tax-free real estate investing, home flipping, and improving your property value … and ways in which real estate investing is far more lucrative than any other type of investing. Additionally, he promotes international real estate investing as opposed to focusing on just local markets.

His company, Property Ventures Limited, targets different types of development including “new urbanism,” low-cost accommodations, underdeveloped areas, and retail and wholesale purchases. Shareholders in the company are made aware of the diversity of property developments as being unique from other investment ventures.

Ratings and Reviews

Although de Roos’ investment company is primarily involved with properties located in New Zeland, his books suggest that you should invest in a variety of international locations. Most reviewers responded negatively to this aspect of his teaching, essentially because tax laws, real estate laws, and property valuations differ significantly from country to country. If investors are unaware of these differences, the investment may not be as lucrative or as successful as described in the guides.

One reviewer identified a bit of a “language” barrier, particularly since the materials are geared toward American audiences. One such example is the difference in the word “rent,” which refers to the remaining amount after operating expenses in his books, as opposed to rent paid by tenants.

Although a variety of materials are available, most reviewers commented that they were over-simplified and too general. For example, where details should be provided as guidelines to investing, only generalized statements about the ease of creating wealth are presented. And hypothetical situations are described in the book complete with figures for reference yet real examples of actual investments or how to apply the figures to actual investments are not provided.