Accountant · Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2011 · 2 posts · 1 vote
HeLLo!
I am a novice in RE. I'd like to start out by reading great RE Investment books instead of seminars.
I am interested in Property management and RE investment~Please tell me the best RE books you ever read or the best RE Author!
PS: I'd love to know your Experience in RE Study too! Such as, how long did you study RE before you make your first deal? What kind of property are you interested in?
Most of the books, videos & other materials out there teach alot of the same things. For the most part, they pretty much all have good info. My advise would be to utilize as much material as you can get your hands on because you will inevitably get something from all of them.
But I have to be honest my favorite book was the book of paperwork I signed for my first flip!
The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings by Steve Berges
This book is technical. It helped me learn how to analyze apartment buildings. Helped me understand financial statements of a building and different financial ratios. By understanding the ratios you can determine your purchase price or sale price. It also helped me to understand exit strategies for buy and hold properties. You sell after you've added value to the building.
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
It's not about RE investing per se but it was very inspiring and motivational. It will get you off the fence and into RE investing if that's what you really want to do.
Stella I think the best books on Real Estate investing are The Milionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller. He also has a book called FLIP which focuses on flipping houses. Read these, they are very cheap and provide a pretty solid foundation on real estate investing without alot of hype. Hope this helps!
For buy and hold I like "Real Estate Investments and How to Make Them" By Milt Tanzer. You really understand the numbers and the four ways you make money in buy and hold properties.
Larry Goins' How to Be a Real Estate Day Trader is a great read for those interested in wholesaling. It can be found in most book stores as well as online at Amazon.
The best book I've ever read on real estate is the real estate game by poorvu. Poorvu teaches real estate at Harvard Business School but this book was written by him for the general audience. It's a much larger look at a real estate career starting outnto bcoming a bigntime developer. It's a brilliant book that can give you a macro perspective on the real estate game, and would be an excellent complement to your other readings like Millionaire Real Estate Investor which is also a great book.
Most of the books, videos & other materials out there teach alot of the same things. For the most part, they pretty much all have good info. My advise would be to utilize as much material as you can get your hands on because you will inevitably get something from all of them.
But I have to be honest my favorite book was the book of paperwork I signed for my first flip!
Rich Dad Poor Dad RE Investing was one of the first ones I read...really basic but informative so its a good start. Also, Gary Keller's Millionaire Real Estate Investor was another one I really liked. I think I have purchased just about every book on RE as I used to walk into Barnes and Noble just about every other week....after while the info gets pretty repetetive though.
I highly recommend any book by Peter Conti & David Finkle. They give away tons of really good information in their books. Also - Wendy Patton has some great books on Lease Options. The Gary Keller books are great too.
I would also say The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Keller. It is a study of many real life investors. I've read almost every book I can get my hands on, and that, to me, is my favorite!
The Millionaire Real Estate Investor has been mentioned several times and I agree. It gives you a good feel for the path from one or two homes to 30 or 40 or 50. From $50k to $5,000,000.
When I decided to seriously invest, I planned to start by reading 10 books. By the time I got to book number 5, I had discovered BP and that was all she wrote. Or I mean all I read. Seriously, you can learn more on property management here than from every book in the Library. And just about every other REI topic. Yeah, there's still a place for books, but if you need to know it, it's here on BP.
I'm assuming you're a new agent/realtor by your post. As a former realtor myself I found the following two books easy reads.
#1 The Real Book of Real Estate by Robert Kiyosaki
The more real estate experience you get the better you'll understand the books. Investing is not easy. There's no one way to go about it.
Find a good lender and real estate attorney to work with. If you don't have a bankroll try to find someone that will do seller financing(which can be difficult if they have a mortgage)but both books talk about that aspect of financing.
I would say my book! LOL! just kidding! The first book I read was Robert Allen, Nothing Down for the 90's. It was ok, but my favorite book was Rich Dad Poor Dad. It was not real estate based, but it made a lotta sense.
As far as how much did I study before I started, not much. I just hung out with big players in the game and asked a lotta questions.
A buddy of mine, bought Ron Legrands book for like 17 bucks and went on to buy and sell over 600 houses! I know others that spent 50k on boot camps and never pulled the trigger on a single deal.
My belief is it is all about a good plan with the right people in place to help you execute it. Good luck!! Just remember, we all started without one deal under our belt! You can do it!! :mrgreen:
I will second the posts regarding Gary Keller's Millionaire Real Estate Investor, as well as Kyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The first post about The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings is also excellent, if that's the type of investing you're considering.
I'd like to add Think and Grow Rich - it's a slow read, but worthwhile. Also the 4-Hour Work Week.
Another very good book is "Full Frontal Real Estate Investing" by Mick Modarelli. He's a seasoned investor here in the Cincinnati, OH area. He's written several courses, but the book I mentioned is more of an anti-guru book, and good solid info for any market. You can check it out at [REMOVED] (There is a plain-brown-wrapper cover available for those easily embarrassed or offended. :oops: )
Also, Failing Forward is another good one.
Good luck!
Gary Eldred is a Phd and was on the faculty at Stanford business school. He wrote "Investing in Real Estate." It is not an inspirational book like some of the others, but just explains the whys and hows, etc. in plain language written for someone who can read at the collegiate level. Smaller print and packed with information.
Also, print off an IRS 1040 schedule d or e or whichever it is and read the instructions on how to report rental income.
One of my favorite real estate books that I've used a lot is actually a tax book....it's called "Lower Your Taxes- Big Time" by Sandy Botkin, CPA, Esq. It's a real gem and helps you understand the tax laws when buying and selling real estate.
Hi Stella -- What a great way to start. Like many on here, I strongly recommend Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It opened my eyes to entrepreneurial thinking. As a "buy and hold" gal, I'm always interested in landlording tips. While I like Jeffrey Taylor, I am a huge fan of Mike Butler and recommend his "Landlording on Autopilot." They are both available at any bookstore but I suggest picking them up at your local library.