'Investing in Real Estate Private Equity' by Sean Cook is a great intro level book, that assumes you know nothing about the syndication space but it doesn't treat you like an idiot either, it takes you along and educates you2. higher level is "CRE analysis and investments" , a textbook by Geltner et al. which I loved, breaks down all aspects of CRE, how to underwrite etc. 3. lots of online stuff helpful too, like The Real Estate Syndication Show, recent episode belowOver 100 Passive Investments and Lessons Learned with Joe Fairless (youtube.com)4.

And an attorney with limited 1031 experience is only going to be reading the text book one step ahead of you.I would recommend a goldilocks approach. 

Particularly the new investors the original post was targeted towards.The text book example of an alter ego is forming an LLC for the sole purpose of collecting rent and performing management functions on behalf a property and performs no other functions.

My previous listing at 327 Bryn Mawr is an example, we had lines out the door to see it and it was a text book value add bed bath combo.

The example is for illustration purposes but in most cases when management LLC's are created by BP members its a text book alter ego.  

I've shifted my focus from textbooks to spending quality time with my dad, who hasn't been feeling well lately, and I'm aiming to build up some savings through investments.Now, I don't have a car, but I have a friend who works nights and has kindly offered to give me rides anywhere between 3am and 4pm.

This is certainly text book and absolutely the proper way to analyze a deal.Im not sure what he owes on the home but based on the payment and the year it was bought and the fact that its 20 min from Austin im just going to throw out 500K for conversations sake.500K compounding annually at 3% for 5 years comes out to approx $578,000, and you have the loan paydown aspect as well obviously. 

If it is not seasoned someone may ask where did they fifty come from all you have to say is: "this is money I have saved for the purposes of investing in real estate" that's the textbook answer that no lender will ever question. 

These gatherings provide a platform for exchanging experiential wisdom, offering insights that textbooks and online resources often can't replicate.

It looks like about a 4th year college level textbook on the subject of real estate in general- I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants to get a full understanding of real estate.