A Big Fat Look at William Nickerson’s Real Estate Offering
Hey, how’s it going ?
Welcome to the Real Estate Spy. I’m glad you dropped by.
You havin’ a great day? I am excited to sit here with ya and discuss a veteran in the REI world “armed forces”… William Nickerson.
and just a respectful note to William and his Fam…Thanks William for the legacy you left behind.
Before we get into the review on William Nickerson, lemme just toss you a couple of questions. I’m curious.
-What’s got ya here?
I mean what prompted your drop by. Obviously you have an interest in real estate investing. And probably in books about it.
But what brings you to the world of real estate?
Are you looking for an out from your day job? Looking for something that will bring in extra income on the side? Looking to escape your day job, be your own boss, make a bunch of cash?
Maybe you’ve heard stories about real estate investing and you want to dip your toes into it too. Is that it? You’ve heard about people who have done really well for themselves and you want a piece of the action.
I totally get that. Everyone gets that! That was how I felt when I first got involved in real estate investing.
But let me tell you a little about my story. I jumped into real estate investing whole hog. There was no stopping me. You know… the “Baby, this thing was gonna make me rich. No holding back.” attitude.
However–and you can probably guess what’s coming now–I got obliterated like a 4 year old playing Mortal Kombat 3 with a pro.
I lost everything . And I mean, everything.
No need to say that that was a really crappy episode of my life.
What I didn’t see at the time was that I was in desperate need for some real mentorship. I was pretending to know what I didn’t know and while I was pretending that, I was also pretending that I wasn’t pretending. make sense? prob not.
When did it change?
Enter BRAD….
Watch the video below? It’s only 3 minutes long. It explains everything.
Then I promise you, the William Nickerson review is next .
And now, let’s talk about William Nickerson.
So if you’ve done any searching at all, you know that this guy is actually dead. He died In 1999 at the ripe old age of 91.
This is a guy who made a butt load of money from real estate investments and then another butt-load writing books about it. Or I should say, writing books telling other people how to do the same thing.
William Nickerson Real Estate PDF and Other Writings
Although I couldn’t find the PDF, I can tell ya….He wrote five real-estate books, including one called How to Make a Fortune Today Starting from Scratch.
His most famous books are the ones called How I Turned $1000 into 5 million in Real Estate in My Spare Time. That one is actually the third revision of an original that came out in 1959, by the same name, only it was about how he turned a grand into one million. . A second revision was published in 1969, about turning the grand into $3 million.
You can get all of these books on Amazon and on other sites like eBay. Amazon carries the latest $5 million version for $26 (new hardback) or $13 (new paperback) as of this writing. The prices on eBay are all somewhat higher .
You can also get the 1963 edition of Nickerson ‘s book called Nickerson’s New Real Estate Guide. There are only three of these available as of this writing, on Amazon, by affiliate sellers
I found one final book called Nickerson’s No Risk way to Real Estate Fortunes . It shows as being a first edition hardcover release in 1986 but doesn’t say when the book was actually written.
The amazing thing to me is that these books have really stood the test of time, particularly the one with the three versions culminating in the most recent $5 million edition. The fact that these books written back in the 60s and 70s are still sought out today is a testament to their valuable content.
I found a comment thread on a BiggerPockets.com forum about the books. The basic consensus is that they are well worth reading and have a lot of solid information.
I’ve included some segments of the comment thread below.
I have the “… three million” version of the book. It’s written like a walkthrough of real estate deals.
It starts with understanding the financial side of it all, then looking for the first property and motivated seller, acquiring the starter house. then renting it out for a few years, renovating it and trading it into a larger property from a motivated seller, and so on. Every step is brought out with the mistakes and lessons learned.
I’d say it’s invaluable book for a complete novice or a beginner just starting out but if you have already some experience in real estate (or you have read other books on the subject already) you will probably find it to be more of a motivational book, than a book with revolutionary ideas. Still, it’s worth reading. — Silver A., April, 2011
This is a pretty good book. The best one is the first – the $1,000,000 because of the additional entertainment value of his currently non-PC and illegal rental suggestions. Remember, this book was written 50 years ago, at least. –Josh P, Los Angeles, 2011
When I got my first CA real estate license in 1971, the Nickerson $1k to 1 Million book was the ONLY book I bought. I loved it and found it very thought provoking. That was the part that I loved. There weren’t gurus or so many fantastic books to select from like the onslaught today. . . .Realize that times are always changing and you need to change with it.My Book has several chapters in it that wouldn’t work today either. Any book that makes you think or consider new approaches is good, imo. Rich W, Sioux Falls, 2011
As I researched these books, I found that on a number of sites they’re considered among the best real estate books that have been written
BiggerPockets.com posted an article called the 21 Best Real Estate Books for Real Estate Investors . The book by William Nickerson is on that list. Another site (WealthBuildingPro .com) contains an article that rates Nickerson’s $1000 to $1M book as one of the top three.
When I review a real estate investor guru or coach, I always check out their social media presence: blogs, podcasts, videos, Facebook, etc. My job was pretty easy here because Nickerson, having passed on 17 years ago, doesn’t even have remnants of a social media presence. And by the same token, there are no complaints registered against him on the gripe sites either.
William Nickerson Background
Nickerson came from Oregon . He was born in Grants Pass. He moved to California and went to high school in Fresno.
He was quite the adventure buff. He hiked from Fresno, California, to Mount Ayr, Iowa, and back the summer after he finished high school. At some point during his college years, he left to hike around the world, visiting all sorts of countries and often traveling on merchant ships as a seaman.
He did this for three years and then went back to Fresno State. After his return he finished his courses and graduated with majors in English and psychology.
He worked for the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company for 17 years in the areas of sales and staff development. His real estate investing career began in 1936 when he bought his first houses.
The book that he wrote that has remained popular decades later was based on those early experiences.
That about sums it up for William Nickerson. Again, thanks for stopping by for this review.
If you skipped the video, please go back and watch it. Three minutes! It could lead to something that could change your life.
