Does This 2015 Book Still Have Current Info (The Book on Rental Property Investing)

[Robert Ok]

Hi all, so for the book (full name below) which is designated as the BiggerPockets Rental Kit, 2, is the information it holds still current? I mean given that it's practically 9+ years old.  If the information is out of date is there a follow-up book you folks can recommend so I can make up for the gap of this original version?

Also, how come this 2015 version is designated Rental Kit, 2 while it's companion book written in 2020 is designated as BiggerPockets Rental Kit, 1? Please guys, pardon if this is a rookie question. I'm an REI newbie.

[Book Title As Listed On Amazon]

The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth With Intelligent Buy and Hold Real Estate Investing (BiggerPockets Rental Kit, 2) Paperback – Illustrated, October 28, 2015
by Brandon Turner (Author)

[Jacob St. Martin]

Hey Robert,

This is a good question! I would say that most of the information in that book is still relevant, but many of the numbers will be outdated. For instance, depending on your location insurance costs could be much much higher than indicated in the book, construction costs are a lot higher, etc. 

Also I will note the ideas of what constitutes a "good" investment mat not be the right advice for anyone. For instance, someone making $500k a year and living in a very highly appreciating market might be extremely happy on a deal that loses $200 a month but is getting 5% appreciation on a 2 million dollar property in San Diego, butut that doesn't make sense for the investor with 30k and a lower paying job.

When it comes to the book series I agree with you that the order doesn't make sense (having read both). One thing to remember is that while BP is amazing, it is a business owned by a VC firm. They know who their primary audience is, people who are broke, newly interested in real estate (maybe from tiktok), and want to get rich off of possible income without putting in the effort to make a bunch of money. The other book you mentioned caters more to that audience and gets people hooked on the idea that they can invest in real estate with no money and then teaches them how in subsequent books. 

I didn't think it is necessarily a bad thing, just is more of a sales strategy than anything else.