Cashflow on a spreadsheet vs. cashflow in real life are very different things, too. 

Search the BP for ADU appraisals to encounter numerous examples.

Explore my personal favorites, Set For Life by Scott Trench or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, for invaluable financial insights.3.

What is the best real estate book out there that actually helped someone in real life?

With the numerous investors on this forum they have done this to, it is probably just the tip of the iceberg. 

We both run our own businesses but we feel that real estate will help make sure we both maintain our life plans of not needed to work as much any more.

Oversimplifying it just a bit, the investor profits from:- a non-refundable option paid by the tenant-buyer which gives them the right to purchase the property within their option period- the spread between the rent paid by the investor to the property owner and the rent paid to the investor by the tenant-buyer over the life of the option- the spread between the price ultimately paid by the investor when they exercise their option with the owner and the price ultimately paid by the tenant-buyer when they exercise their option with the investorClear as mud?

It's been 2.5 years since I purchased my first property and now that everything in my personal life has slowed down I'm back on the horse and ready to find my next investment.

Life sucks, then you die.So will the compensation payouts take decades?

Apparently has done jail time for numerous crimes.