Mortgage Free! Innovative Strategies for Debt-Free Home Ownership by Rob Roy

I merged your stuff with the following thread. I hope that is okay by you.

I wrote up another book review over on my blog and am sharing it here to help out the empire. Enjoy!


I give this book 9 out of 10 acorns!



Today I thought I would write up a little review on the most excellent book Mortgage Free by Rob Roy.

This is a great book for anyone who interested in avoiding getting a mortgage, especially for those who wish to set up a homestead without going in to debt. Roy sets out clear strategies to going about each of the major steps he shows on the road to a mortgage free home.

The book starts off with a nice chapter on the mortgaged homes. I liked how he starts off the book by showing how most people in the world know nothing about mortgages. I also like the bit where he talks on Henry Thoreau and the necessaries of life.

The next chapter starts to get into the good stuff with a good bit on how to save up a bunch of money fast. He illustrates the consumer lifestyle nicely and goes on to expand on the conserver lifestyle. By reexamining necessities and exploring a variety of other saving tips, Roy paints a clear picture of how to save lots of money.

Once money has been saved, the strategy takes it’s next step and Roy goes into all the things you need to know about buying land. From the first question of finding a location, to actually finding land in that location, to evaluating and eventually buying the land. Each of these important steps is laid out nicely with lots of good things to think about and ways to go about completing the necessary tasks.

Roy goes on to talk about moving onto your newly acquired land and building a temporary shelter to live in while you build your home. He shows some examples of different types of easy to build temporary shelters and presents some nice stories of people’s experiences building theirs. This section is a good way to get you thinking about different low cost building methods. Some good illustrations and diy instructions.

In the next chapter Roy talks about the building of your first low cost home. From the research into which type of home to build, to the planning for simplicity and ease of construction, to sourcing local/cheap materials, to planning for future additions, Roy goes into lots of detail on important aspects of building your first home. Very useful section with good tips and things to think about.

Roy finishes off the book with an account of his own journey towards owning a mortgage free home and the accounts of a few other people. These parts are nice to see how his strategy was implemented by real people and the difficulties they had to go through.

Overall this is an excellent book. Roy presents many useful ideas and things to think about, while writing in a style that is fun to read. The book flows nicely from section to section all the while referring back to his own and others experiences in particular situations. Definitely a book to be read by anyone even remotely interested in going mortgage free.

I first learned of Rob Roy in 1980 or 1981. My parents had sold a farm worth $45,000 and bought a 7 acre riding academy near the city for $250,000. Within two years, the floating mortgage had gone to 21%. They worked constantly but treaded water financially for 15 years.

Rob's books show a better way. I didn't forget or follow my parent's example. Most who read him, will never build a cord wood house, but many have been helped in thinking about money, avoiding financial servitude and future planning.

Cassie Langstraat wrote:Simon Johnson,
I have merged your topic into this topic. I hope that helps.

Thanks!

I read this book a few years ago and really enjoyed it! It helped my wife and I implement some debt free home ownership strategies immediately that have changed the way we do things.  Thanks again Rob!