You can get the books cheap on Abebooks.com and support local small book stores abound the country. 

My recommendation is that you read "Set For Life" by Scott Trench (available in the bookstore or Amazon).

David Greene just wrote a good book about getting started called "SOLD" and in the BiggerPockets bookstore.

I recommend finding a book on tax strategies (see BiggerPockets bookstore) and discuss this with a CPA.

hi everyone, this is my first time posting to bigger pocketsi am an airline pilot in my mid 30s and looking to create a new life for my wife and myself and our baby on the way. i have dove deep on BP and been scouring the bookstore and the podcasts and learning as much as i can about investing in real estate. we currently live in a 1b/1ba home we own, and no longer owe any debt. i bought it for $120k in 2015 with 2br/1ba, met my wife the next year, she moved in and we gutted it and rehabbed it ourselves (aside from some structural flooring stuff and the final electric and water connections) and blew the tiny bathroom out into the adjacent bedroom, making the house a 1br/1ba. we did all the framing and flooring, paint and drywall and fixtures ourselves. we plan to add an additional bedroom or two, and possibly another bathroom, in the unfinished attic at some point. i was granted a HELOC for $120,000 with my local bank after it got reappraised a month ago at $163,000. i think we spent around $25,000 on the rehab so i'm feeling pretty darn happy about the situation. obviously the covid exodus from boston and new york have pumped real estate prices but we dont really plan on selling any time soon; but possibly renting it out if i get relocated for work.i am trying to find my first investment deal, and my wife and i have narrowed down our plan to aim for a rental with cosmetic rehab and solid tenant base. we thought about house hacking. i'm not sure of where i'll be sent next with work, but i will be sent somewhere else soon. our local market (vermont) is not very landlord friendly so we are looking at long distance, self-sufficient rental as our first investment. i am leaning toward student rentals, and after searching and comparing prices and stuff we have chosen to focus on a few different college town markets in the TN, KY, WV region. i have found a property i think might fit. its a triplex with three 1br/1ba units and off street parking, split utilities, w/d in each unit, located a half block from campus. it seems in decent shape, its been on the market over 200 days, and is listed at $190,000 in a market i believe i can ask at least $750 per unit for rent, which would bring my cash flow to near $1000/mo if i used the calculator correctly.what next??

Focus on your business, build success, and then use that success to purchase a property.David Green has a new book "Sold" in the BiggerPockets bookstore that shows what it takes to set up a successful business.

Next BiggerPockets has a ton of great books to help people get started, you can check out the book store here: https://store.biggerpockets.co...Then, just keep networking.....you want people on your team who understand real estate investing. 

Once you narrow your focus you may want to check out the Biggerpockets bookstore for the great selection of books on a wide variety of topics.  

Numbers on the property:current listing: 299,0002020 tax assessment: 197,000Zillow estimate: 252,000 - 299,000 (279,850 is zestimate)Redfin estimate: 295,000I'm working my way through the BP bookstore, but haven't gotten to any renovation books so I apologize if this question is easily answered in one of those books!

The Bigger Pockets Bookstore has some really good ones.