My Top 20 Books to Read for the Buy & Hold Investor

[Hector Rodriguez]

I am a longer-term "Buy & Hold Investor" in Massachuetts and have built a reference library over the years.  These books have provided me with a wealth of information which I still leverage from time to time.  I created this "Top 20" list for my own edification, as some of these are so key that I want to re-read them in the future (I have read some of them multiple times).  I also wanted to create their own shelf in my library, and I did! :-)

Some caveats first:

• The books are not all about real estate, in fact the majority of them are not about real estate.  Buffett's "Berkshire Hathaway’s Letters to Shareholders" (available for free on Berkshire's website) is the most influential business book for me, covering everything from ethics, to the importance of people, to capital management... a monumental read, but I digress.  The Buy & Hold investor must run the enterprise as a long-term business, therefore thinking as a business owner and investor in general is paramount.  Real estate investing happens to be the one area where we focus in.
• There may be some contradictions between books.  I consider that a plus.  This is about education, not guiding you to the Holy Grail... there is no such thing.
• Most of the books are newer, and this means no disrespect to earlier authors.  My library has books from Wade Cook, Albert J. Lowry and Robert G Allen (and Nickerson of course)... their advice, however educational, is of limited use in today's environment (although some of it may come back in vogue if inflation keeps going up!)
• Only one book from the BiggerPockets author list... this is not meant to be discriminatory; books by Brandon Turner (The Book on Rental Property Investing), Chad Carson (Retire Early with Real Estate) and David Green (BRRR) are all excellent and they feature prominently in my library and should be read.

Now to the list:

Books on Money Management – The foundation for all kinds of investing activities. All new endeavors will flounder if the principles outlined in these books are not understood and followed.  Mr. Stanley's book is a MUST read!

• Stanley, Thomas J. The Millionaire Next Door. Lanham: Taylor Trade Publishing, 1996.
• Kiyosaki, Robert T. Rich Dad Poor Dad. New York: Warner Books, 1997.

Books on General Investing – Real Estate Investing is first of all about Investing. These books outline investing fundamentals specific to how to manage capital, run businesses effectively and identify business opportunities.

• Buffett, Warren. Berkshire Hathaway’s Letters to Shareholders. Omaha, Various.
• Lynch, Peter. One Up on Wall Street. New York: Simon, 1989.

Books on Business Structure & Governance – Helps Real Estate Investors plan their activities strategically, to include outlining proper organizational structure, roles and responsibilities.  Growth will be hard to come by if we are not able to properly organize the business.  These books are tremendously helpful on this front.

• Gerber, Michael E. The E Myth Revisited. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
• Kaplan, Robert S. The Strategy Focused Organization. Boston: HBS Press, 2001.
• Harnish, Verne. Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. New York: Gazelles, 2002.
• Lee, Christopher. Transformational Leadership in Real Estate. Chicago: IREM, 2012.

Books on Business & Investment Cycles – These books help investors recognize that all businesses (including real estate!!!) follow business cycles, with corresponding ups and downs on asset prices.

• Train, John. Dance with the Money Bees. New York: Harper & Row, 1974.
• Trass, Kieran. Grow Rich with the Property Cycle. Auckland: Penguin Books, 2004.

Books on Real Estate Investing – These books outline generic basics of real estate investing, with a bent towards the Buy & Hold crowd.  I recognize that this is an extremely short list here as there are dozens if not hundreds of others to choose from, these are just some of those which resonate with me the most!

• Shumacher, David. Buy and Hold. Hermosa: Shumacher Enterpeises, 2000.
• DeCima, Jay P. Investing in Fixer-Uppers. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
• Martinez, Matthew A. Investing in Apartment Buildings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009.
• Fishman, Stephen. Every Landlord’s Tax Deduction Guide. Berkeley: NOLO, 2020.
• HONORABLE mention to Nickerson, William. How I turned $5,000 into a Million in Real Estate. New York: Simon, 1959.  A bit outdated, and limited focus on Buy & Hold, but still a good read for a 60+ year old book!

Books On the Importance of Cash Flows – Critical to real estate investing. The concept of dividends coming from investments in the stock market is important as it is conceptually identical to the positive cash flows arising from real estate investing.

• Peters, Josh. The Ultimate Dividend Playbook. Hoboken: Wiley, 2008.
• Khleif, Rod. How to Create Lifetime Cashflow. Lifetime Cashflow Academy, 2016.

Books on Property Management: The day-to-day of running real estate rental properties.

• Turner, Brandon. The Book on Managing Rental Properties. Denver: BiggerPockets, 2015.

Books on Real Life Experiences – Real-life business development experiences not in real estate.  Many, many, many other possibilities to consider here.  These are two good examples on the mentality and approach (and grit!) needed to ramp up a business from the ground up.

• Shultz, Howard. Pour Your Heart Into It. New York: Hachette Books, 1989.
• Walton, Sam. Made in America. New York: Bantam, 1993.

And yes, I know, there are 19... help identify one more!