Real estate is a big investment. When making any significant purchase in life, don’t rely on just one source of information. Read the best real estate books, listen to podcasts, and gather all the information available. Before buying the property, I did months of research. I read and listened to anything I could get my hands on, from blog posts to podcasts. But mainly, I searched for the best real estate books.
Being financially wealthy is when your money is making you money. So much in fact that you don’t need to work if you don’t want to. In simpler terms, your income isn’t tied to your time. Next to investing in the stock market, real estate is the second-fastest vehicle to build long-term wealth. Wealthy people pay themselves first and take their money to invest in assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate.
Anything that puts money in your pocket each month is an asset. Real estate is a real-life example of this. If you owned four rental properties (debt-free), you could have around 5-6K in monthly income.
How sweet is that? Wouldn’t it be fabulous if you could invest in real estate using only a small amount of your savings? Wouldn’t it be even better if you could live off the passive income from your real estate investments? Does it surprise you to know that both are possible? Similarly, like any other investment, real estate investing also runs the risk of losing your investment/hard-earned dollars.
Fortunately, there is a key success in real estate investing.
“Next to investing in the stock market, real estate is the second-fastest vehicle to build long-term wealth.”
After all, knowledge is power. Likewise, the more you know about investing before you get started, the greater success you will have. No shocker there.
To answer my first question, “Why would you want to read a real-estate book”? My answer is obvious: To build wealth.
And that is where this collection of the best real estate books comes into play. Hundreds of books exist on buying anything from your first home to investment properties.
Some are good, some are of questionable quality, and some give downright crappy advice. That happens with all types of books. Even day trading books.
Below are three of my favorites. I suggest pulling out your credit card cause I know you’re going to want to buy them.
Three of the Best Real Estate Books
- The Book on Rental Property Investing
- The Millionaire Real Estate Investor
- Getting the Money
There is a ton of information out there, and to try to read it all is a fool’s game. For these reasons, I thought I whittle down the list to 3. Start with these and then move on from there.
Let’s get to it…
1. The Book on Rental Property Investing
I’ve read through many real estate books, but none have come anywhere close to this one. Brandon Turner―co-host of the BiggerPockets Podcast, active real estate investor, and bestselling author ―has one goal: to help you win at the real estate game.
With 400 pages of in-depth advice, The Book on Rental Property Investing gives you practical and exciting strategies to build significant cash flow with your rentals.
Turner’s book is a comprehensive guide with in-depth discussions and clear, concise (an honest rarity these days) examples of searching for properties, funding them, screening tenants, managing tenants, and everything in between.
At this point, it’s safe to say new and experienced investors alike will find his book useful. The pages are filled with easy-to-understand dialogue on building a realistic plan, finding incredible deals, analyzing properties, building a team, financing your rentals, and much more; everything you need to become a millionaire rental property investor.
Podcast With the Book
For those of you who love podcasts as I do, please check out their podcast biggerpockets.com. They are the real estate authority, the Facebook of Real Estate investing). Combined with the information in the book, my knowledge has skyrocketed.
Another huge selling point in my books is that Brandon is hilarious, no lie. For those writers, you know how incredibly difficult it is to translate comedy into writing, but he nails it.
His comedic timing is incredible, and he’s genuinely funny. His writing style also made learning about tax laws and other technical terms much fun.
Although the book focuses primarily on smaller multifamily residential properties (2-24 units), you can apply the principles to larger properties.
Overall, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK if you’re a newbie interested in the real estate niche. I learned a ton from this book, and I most certainly look forward to rereading it time and time. Unlike other real estate books, this one provides a spectacular checklist to get started, along with a few tips and tricks of the game.
2. The Millionaire Real Estate Investor
Coming in at a close second for those thinking of investing in real estate to build wealth or escape the shackles of a job, this book is a must.
Gary Keller is an excellent writer who motivates you to get started. It excites you and gives an excellent roadmap to the real estate investing journey.
Keller describes several strategies for real estate investing and creates a cohesive and detailed account. Keller shows you how to minimize the risk of real estate investing by following a few proven models that give you the wiggle room to deal with the unexpected.
What I like the most about this book is that it teaches you not only how to invest in real estate but also gives you the mindset of how a real investor needs to be.
Mindset Is Key
Like in stock trading, your mindset needs to be right. Everyone can increase their wealth if they act like an investor, and this book teaches you how to be an investor.
Once Keller teaches you the principles of wealth accumulation, money flow, and the investor mindset, he focuses on wealth accumulation through real estate. He gives you the basic models you need to follow.
A word of caution, however: it’s like 400 pages long. Keller could have gotten his message out in 200 pages, but that’s not for me to decide.
As predicted, this book, like many other real estate investing books, promotes highly leveraged positions on severely discounted properties. Just keep this in mind, as leverage or margin can be a slippery slope, like in stock trading.
Nonetheless, Keller hit the pavement and did a ton of research with actual investors (himself included) in the trenches.
That alone is valuable information you’d be wise to heed. This book will inspire you to start investing. It is a great read, especially for newbies!
3. Getting the Money
If you need to raise private capital to fund your real estate deals and have no clue where to start, this book is exactly what you need!
Real Estate investing is a proven wealth builder, but the barriers to entry can be tough unless you have a money tree in your backyard.
You need money to make real estate purchases, and this book shows you how to get money for your real estate deals.
When you read Getting the Money, you’ll uncover three gems. First is a simple framework to raise private capital for your real estate.
Second, there are three types of private investors and how to approach each without looking like a complete fool. And thirdly, how to close deals while making the process fun and profitable.
This book solidifies my belief that anyone can join the real estate investing arena; it’s not an exclusive privilege of the wealthy.
Susan shows us how she uses creativity and personal authenticity to raise millions of dollars to invest in real estate. I found this to be incredibly inspiring!
I especially liked that she dedicated an entire chapter at the beginning of the book to talking about honesty and authenticity. How fantastic is that!
Susan knows the importance of personal credibility in any business dealing. That lesson didn’t have to be in the front of the book, but she placed it there for a reason. It lends credibility to her as an author and the book.
Final Thoughts: Real Estate Books
As always, please do your own research before undertaking any investing endeavor. Whether reading the best real estate books or researching stock market sectors.
Have faith in yourself and surround yourself with mentors and like-minded people; people who are on your journey. It reminds me of when I first started trading stocks. I had no idea where to start. So you know what I did?
I invested my time, money and energy in a community that provided me with quality education and mentors; that community was Bullish Bears. Don’t forget to take our free online trading courses.
