6 Practical Books for a Killler Investor Mindset

I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. My parents and extended family started their own businesses so growing up I saw the autonomy and control they had over their lives, how they ran their businesses, and ultimately spent their time. There was an investment they were making into their businesses, some of them real estate, some of them not, and their values and goals shaped their mindset. This mindset, we can call it the Investor Mindset, varies greatly from the more commonly accepted mindset, the 40 Mindset.

The 40 mindset is this–work 40 hours a week for someone else. Work for 40 years before you retire. Retire and live on 40% of your income because hopefully your expenses are lower but that is what you have to work with after putting aside money in retirement plans.

The 40 Mindset is just fine but it is neither helpful nor relevant to being a successful real estate investor. Some of the markers for success in a real estate investor are going to be autonomy, creative freedom, competence, financial independence, and connection to other people. To develop an Investor Mindset, exposure to successful investors and education are both critically important.

After exposure to successful investors and education will come hard work. I love to read, but as we are actively investing, a lot of our time has been spent putting systems into place, critiquing our business plan, making offers, managing projects, adding teams to cover liabilities, building relationships, tracking expenses, etc.

So, if you want to invest, the work will come, but first let’s start with the education piece. Below is my list of 6 books that give practical, elementary but key concepts to develop a killer Investor Mindset.

1. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, By Simon Sinek

So often, we start with “what” or “how”, but Simon Sinek shares the importance of starting with “why”. Why do you want to be a real estate investor? Why are you motivated to invest? Having a strong “why” can be a guiding principle that will keep you focused on your ultimate outcome as you ride the ups and downs of your investing journey.

2. The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings, by Steve Berges

How is analyzing an apartment different than analyzing a single family residence? What are the four ways real estate builds wealth? What percentage of operating expenses should be set aside for maintenance? This book is a thorough introduction to the facts and figures necessary for deal analysis.

3. The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth and Passive Income Through Intelligent Buy & Hold Real Estate Investing!, By Brandon Turner

Brandon Turner’s book lays out the different opportunities available in the world of real estate investing and focuses on how to build wealth through buy and hold properties. Mr. Turner’s book is comprehensive and draws from his experience building his own portfolio and touches on a variety of processes and strategies for investors.

4. The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, by Gary Keller

The most helpful part of this book is seeing the power of investment properties laid out in a description that resembles Dave Ramsey’s “Snowball Effect”. On the contrary to debt elimination, Gary Keller shows the powerful wealth building potential that a real estate portfolio can provide.

5. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, By Tim Ferriss

Tim Ferris shares his alternative to the religiously followed 40 Mindset. He takes strong opposition to the idea that we should work 40 hours a week for 40 years and gives practical solutions to implement to be more effective and essentially work less with better results.

6. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Whatever you do in life, if you don’t have the perseverance to overcome obstacles you will never get the chance to experience the sweet joy of success. The good news is that we can grow and become more gritty and in this book, Angela Duckworth, PhD, gives practical solutions and exercises to do just that.

What books would you recommend for developing a killer investor mindset?