Top 10 Real Estate Investing Books

Mike: Welcome back to the flipnerd.com REI classroom, where experts from across the real estate investing industry teach you quick lessons to take your business to the next level. And now, let’s meet today’s expert host.

Marco: Hi, my name is Marco Santarelli with Norada Real Estate Investments and I am your host on the REI classroom today. Today, I’m going to talk to you about my top 10 real estate investing books.

Mike: This REI classroom real estate lesson is sponsored by theinvestormachine.com, Flipnerd’s private investor coaching program and your blueprint to investing success.

Marco: There are literally thousands of books on real estate investing. I myself have one of the largest collections known to anybody. I am surrounded by probably 800 books right now. But, you know, there are literally thousands of books on real estate investing. So I thought I would share my top 10 real estate investing books with you today. That’s not to say that I only have 10 favorites because I could easily add another 10 or 20. But for those of you looking for some good book recommendations, here they are. My first is, obviously, a perennial. If you haven’t heard of this book, maybe you’re living under a rock, but it’s the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” book by Robert Kiyosaki. You see, this is the number one personal finance book of all time and short of the Bible, it’s the number one selling book of all time.

So this book tells the story of Robert Kiyosaki and his two dads because he had a real father and a father of his best friend who was his rich dad. And it talks about the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. Well, the book explodes the myth that you need to earn a really high income to be rich and it explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you. So it is a great foundational book and a good starting point. It lays the foundation and it changes your mindset, which is very important because you need to build on your mental focus and your mental mindset and your mind frame of reference. But that’s a good starting book.

Another book that’s also in the “Rich Dad” series is “Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing.” And, you see, investing means different things to different people. And there is a huge difference between passive investing and becoming an active, engaged investor. So in this book, in “Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing,” one of the three core titles in “Rich Dad” series, it covers the basic rules of investing. And this is fundamental, regardless of what you do. So it talks about how to reduce your investment risk and how to convert your earned income into passive income, which is all the things we want to do as real estate investors so we have that time freedom. Anyway, it’s a great foundational book.

The third one is by well-known Gary Keller of Keller Williams real estate and it’s “The Millionaire Real Estate Investor.” This book represents the collected wisdom and experience of over 100 millionaire investors from all walks of life who pursued financial wealth and achieved this life-changing freedom. So this book really delivers and it’s straightforward. It’s no nonsense, it’s easy to read and it just reveals their proven strategies.

My fourth book is by Gary Eldred and it’s titled, “Investing in Real Estate.” Now, this is a more active investor’s guide, but it shows time-tested ways to grow a profitable portfolio and shows you how to properly invest and deliver on that investment in 22 different ways. So he talks about 22 sources of financial returns. So you’ll learn how to do things from negotiating to reading market trends and then choosing multiple possibilities of options within the real estate asset class.

The next one is a relatively new book on the scene, but it’s great because nobody likes taxes, but you need to understand taxes. The thing is that everybody pays taxes, the goal is to pay as little as possible. So “Tax‑Free Wealth” from Tom Wheelwright, which is one of the “Rich Dad” advisors, in his book, he talks about tax planning concepts. It’s about how to use your country’s tax laws to your benefit. And in this book, Tom goes into how tax laws work and how they’re designed to reduce your taxes, not to actually increase your taxes. And, you see, once you understand the basic principles, you no longer need to be afraid of the tax laws. They’re there to help you and your business. It’s not there to hinder you, but you just need to understand how they work in order to take advantage of it.

Garrett Sutton is also a “Rich Dad” advisor, but he’s on the legal side. And he talks about loopholes of real estate. In fact, that’s the title of his book, “Loopholes of Real Estate.” In that book, he reveals the tax and legal strategies that are used by the rich and have been used for decades, generations to acquire and actually benefit from real estate investments. So he writes in a very clear fashion and shows you how to open tax loopholes for your benefit and to close those legal loopholes for your protection.

A relatively new book as well is the book on rental property investing by Brandon Turner. He’s from BiggerPockets and he has one goal in mind, to give you and every real estate investor the strategies, the tools, tips, and techniques that you need to become a real estate rental property investor. And he does that while helping you avoid the junk that pulls down so many wannabes that don’t get started, that get bogged down in minutiae or just being overwhelmed is all the information out there. So it’s a great starting book.

Next is “IRA Wealth” by Patrick Rice. Now, this book has been around for a long time, but it’s still valid today. You see, for decades, banks and institutions brokerage houses, they have convinced you that IRA holdings could only be invested in stocks and mutual funds. Well, that’s a lie. It’s just never been true. So few people knew that there was a great alternative that offered both safety and growth and that alternative is obviously real estate. So in this book, he teaches you how to turn your IRA into a self-directed account and then he details out the many ways in which real estate can make you rich within that IRA.

Another book for propeller heads, and I am one of them, if you’re very analytical, a book by Frank Gallinelli, he is obviously Italian, “What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow.” Now, this is a great book. I couldn’t put it down when I started reading it. It’s basically a classic, but it takes the guess work in investing in real estate to teaching you how to crunch numbers like a pro. And that way, you can confidently judge a property’s value and ensure that it provides long-term returns. So it’s very well written, easy to understand, but it takes these complex ideas about numbers and analysis and cash flow and makes it very easy to understand.

And last, but not least, we have a book similar to Frank’s book. And it’s called “The Complete Guide to Real Estate Finance for Investment Properties.” Now, that’s a mouthful and, yes, this is a bit of a technical or analytical book, but it’s very practical and it’s got real-world examples. So, in essence, it’s a real-world guide that gives you all the tools you need to make those wise decisions when you’re weighing out the value and potential of an investment property. So it’s meant for seasoned but as well as novice investors. And it’s very friendly, it’s straightforward, it walks readers step-by-step through every stage of property analysis. So whether you’re buying or selling, investing in a big commercial property or just a whole portfolio of single-family rentals, this book is great.

So I hope you found this book list very helpful. And if you’d like more free wealth building information, you could visit our website at noradarealestate.com. Or you can listen to my podcast, “The Passive Real Estate Investing Show” on iTunes. Thank you.

Mike: Are you looking to change your life through real estate investing? If you’re interested in either getting started or taking your business to the next level, please check out FlipNerd’s private program at theinvestormachine.com. This is the most robust real estate investor coaching, networking and mastermind on the planet, and designed for your success.

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