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The Top 8 Books for New Real Estate Investors

1st House Flip Update: I got the property listed last week! So I’m super excited about getting things over the finish line. Now it is a waiting game to see if the home will sell for as much as I hope….Stay tuned for conclusions.

Investing in real estate can seem complicated when you’re just getting started. There is a lot of terminologies to learn, and it can be confusing knowing where to start. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was just a game plan to follow, rather than having to learn everything from scratch?

There are many programs and so-called gurus out there who promise to give you that game plan. Some are probably worth the money (if you can afford it!), but others are most certainly not. And you’re still left with the problem of not knowing where to start, who to trust, and whether your money will deliver the results that you’re looking for.

Luckily, all of the information is contained in books that are very low cost, or even free. Thank you library!

I’ve read dozens and dozens of books on self-help, business, and real estate over the last few years. Several books have really stood out among all the others and were transformational for me in getting started in investing.

Additionally, after listening to many podcasts about real estate these books are frequently cited. So don’t take my word for it!

The list below is the top 8 books for new real estate investors. 

Mindset:

These books are not technical step by step manuals. But mindset is the most important part of success in anything in life. These books will put you in the mindset of the world’s most successful real estate investors. 

Rich Dad Poor Dad- Robert Kiyosaki

If there was any one book that gets cited more than any other as being influential to real estate investors, it would be this one.

Robert Kiyosaki’s cult classic is the story of Robert’s two father figures during his life. It explains the difference between the common financial mindset of the middle class and contrasts that with that of the rich.

The book is told through a series of parables and is very easy to read. It starts off by going into the story of the author’s success in order to establish him as an authority in the space.

The main takeaways from the book are to invest in assets, and not to purchase liabilities. An asset is defined as something that puts money into your pocket, while a liability is something that takes money from your pocket.

The book also outlines the 4 ways to make money. It can either be active or passive; and for someone or for yourself. This makes a quadrant that includes: working for someone else in a 9-5/W-2 job, being self-employed, working in your own business, and lastly owning a business in which you don’t work.

To become rich, you need to move from working for others to leveraging other peoples’ time and money to work for you.

How to Win Friends and Influence People- Dale Carnegie

Real estate is a relationship business. There are certainly jobs within the industry that you can tackle alone. But to be truly successful you’ll need to enlist the help and services of others.

There is a practically unlimited amount of deals, and more than enough money sitting around waiting for a great opportunity to take down all of those deals. However, without building solid relationships, it will be very difficult to get access to either of those things.

There is a saying that says,

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – Unknown

That is especially true in real estate. This book teaches you how to relate well to others in order to gain their trust and develop relationships.

The 6 Habits of Highly Effective People- Stephen R. Covey

“Your level of success will seldom exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become.” – Jim Rohn

The road to business and entrepreneurial success is not always easy. Growth can often be uncomfortable and at each level of success, you will need to reinvent yourself in order to keep progressing past the obstacles that inevitably pop up.

People that are interested in real estate are generally naturally focused on self-improvement and personal development. In my experience, real estate investors are some of the most ambitious and motivated people that I have ever met.

This book outlines 6 timeless principles for developing yourself into the best version of yourself.

Each lesson is fundamental to success and includes things such as: begin with the end in mind (know what you want, and work backwards from there to develop a plan in order to avoid distractions), continuously sharpening the saw (keep working to keep your skills fresh and progressing), and using masterminds (groups of motivated people on the same mission as you) in order to speed up your development process

The E-Myth Revisited- Michael Gerber

At this point, we know why we want to invest in real estate and we have our mindset dialed into self-improvement and relationship building. This is really sufficient to move forward and start taking action.

But you also want to be aware of one of the major traps in building a business, and that is building yourself a job.

“An entrepreneur is someone who will work 80 hours a week for themselves, in order to avoid working 40 for someone else.” – Unknown

This quote points to the fact that many people end up miserable in their business. They may be very successful financially, but spend all of their time working on their business.

For most entrepreneurs and investors, they got into business in order to create freedom for themselves, not to spend their entire lives working extremely hard.

Michael Gerber explains the root causes of this common issue, and how to structure your business in order to avoid this trap. By starting with the end in mind, we can Work on the Business, Not in the Business!

Never Split the Difference- Chris Voss

Everything in life is negotiable. Unfortunately, negotiation is a highly desirable but common skill in the western world. We don’t generally haggle and barter in markets for our products.

This book is the often-cited best book on negotiation. It reads very easily as most of the lessons are explained through stories derived from an FBI hostage negotiator’s experiences.

Given that real estate is often very expensive, a small difference in the percentage of prices or terms can mean thousands of dollars. It can also allow you to turn a property into a deal that other investors might have to pass on.

How to… The Technical Stuff

Now we are finally ready to dive into the nuts and bolts of real estate investing. If you’re reading these books in order, beware of the common trap at this stage. Many people continue to reach for education and don’t actually ever do anything.

It is scary to jump into the unknown, but you can’t worry about making mistakes. You will, trust me! Seek out good advice from others who are successful, but make sure to actually start putting offers on properties!

you read the next book, start going and looking for your first property, if you haven’t already.

The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth and Passive Income Through Smart Buy & Hold Real Estate Investing- Brandon Turner

In this book, the host of the BiggerPockets podcast goes through the why and how of investing in real estate. This book starts off with motivation and inspiration around why investing in real estate is an amazing way to build true wealth. Next, he goes on to outline the steps that you need to become financially independent using real estate.

The Book on Investing In Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down: Real Life Strategies for Investing in Real Estate Using Other People’s Money- Brandon Turner

As a follow up to his first book, Brandon Turner wrote this book to explain how to use creative financing strategies to acquire real estate. This book is important. Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t need to be rich to be a real estate investor.

There are 3 components to any real estate deal: you need to bring the deal (the property), the money, or the hustle/labor. This book goes over strategies such as BRRRR investing, syndication, subject-to, partnerships and more in order to acquire real estate for no money out of your own pocket. For most of these strategies, you will need to have money to use, but it doesn’t have to be your own money.

What Every Investor Should Know About Cash Flow… And 36 other Key Financial Metrics- Frank Galleneli

This is a fantastic reference book on financial metrics. It is quite advanced and can be a rather dense read as it deals with calculating financial metrics. It is a great read to understand how to evaluate property however. There is a lot of financial jargon such as cap rates, IRR, cash-on-cash returns and so more in the real estate space.

You don’t need to be an expert in all of these things, but you certainly need to know the lingo and be able to calculate the returns on properties. This will not only help you to ensure that you’re getting a good deal on property. It will also help educate you about which type of investing you would like to pursue.

The Top Real Estate Investing Books for New Investors: Conclusion

These eight books are fundamental to getting started in real estate. They can really accelerate your learning curve. And once you’ve finished them all you’ll be much more confident and prepared to grow your investing business and your ability to become financially free soon.

If you’ve read any of these books, drop a comment below and let me know how they changed your life!

Until next time.

To Your Success,

Tim

The Top 8 Books For New Real Estate Investors