11 of the Best Books for Real Estate Investors

These 11 real estate investing books will give you the knowledge and confidence to succeed with your real estate investments the first time.

One of the best places to start on the next stage of your real estate investing journey is making sure you know everything you need to know to avoid pitfalls and succeed the first time around.

The books for real estate investors included in this list cover almost every aspect of what it means to be a property investor – and perhaps more important than the methods, the mindset of the successful. Some, cover the big pictures, others get down and dirty with the details giving you actionable tips and a place to start.

Real estate investing can be a great way to build wealth, and retire early. It can be a business in and of itself – or it can be a side hustle for a bit of extra cash. Whatever your goals, learning and understanding the basics along with your overall objectives is key.

11 Real Estate Investing Books

1.Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

This is a book for entrepreneurs. Whilst not necessarily about real estate investing it will completely change the way you view money and assets.

Robert Kiyosaki outlines the different ways people look at money and explains how you, as an entrepreneur and investor need to approach the very idea of wealth.

And as the author of this book, Robert Kiyosaki, made most of his fortune through real estate it’s a pretty good book for anyone wanting to get into real estate investing.

2. Building Wealth One House at a Time by John Schaub

This book is all about the fundamentals. Whilst a lot of people often complain about books like this, arguing that the topics covered are too basic, I would argue that people need to remember the basics first before going off to look at more risky and glitzy forms of investment.

John Schaub is then a great place for people starting out with some very solid, down-to-earth advice that has worked for him for over four decades as a serial house flipper, landlord, and lender.

He covers an overall strategy for achieving financial independence with residential real estate, but he also gets into finding, financing, renting, and selling properties.

The main idea of the book is that you can build a fortune and do everything you want in life by investing in little real estate deals like single-family houses and small multi-units.

3. The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner

There is a reason that this book is sitting in Amazon’s #1 position in the real estate section. Brandon Turner has written a super practical and very actionable book – that will help pretty much any and every real estate investor.

A real strength of this book is Brandon Turners ability to make complicated strategies easy to understand and act upon. He covers everything from finding, financing, closing, and renting. Getting stuck in with the nitty-gritty of managing your investments to understanding the bigger picture and broader issues around cash flow and financing.

This book is focused on the smaller guys and beginners, making it a very useful resource for them – though less useful for large portfolio investors.

4. The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, & Jay Papasan

This is a very interesting book that attempts to capture something of the essence that resides within the successful real estate investor. It does this through a number of means, one of which is profiling successful real-life real estate investors. These examples show that it’s possible to become a millionaire in a variety of ways.

Author Gary Keller is the highly successful co-founder of Keller realty. He takes the knowledge he has gained over his career and breaks down every aspect of real estate investing – sharing a variety of models that work and best practices.

This book doesn’t get too hung up on the finer details, focusing more on overall mindset and strategy.

5. How to be a Real Estate Investor by Phil Pustejovsky

Phil Pustejovsky outlines, step by step, how to be a real estate investor regardless of how much money you have, what your credit score looks like or what your experience level may be.

The goal of this book is to show you that anyone can be a real estate investor and successful – you just need to get that first property under your belt and then keep on going.

This book was created for anyone looking for a simple-to-read, easy-to-follow yet powerful real estate investment guide for today’s market.

6. Retire Early With Real Estate by Chad Carson

Chad Carson has had some remarkable success carving out his success story over the last 15 years in the real estate industry. His aim was to become financially independent, to avoid the 9-5 grind. His book shares his methods, his experiences, and aims to help find the best approach and real estate strategy for you and how to take action.

One of the best parts of the book is its practical and actionable tips. You get clear instructions and learn how to apply those instructions in a positive manner.

Other than that he details a number of real real-estate early retiree profiles with details and facts about how they achieved their success.

This maybe isn’t the one-stop shop for complete success, but it is certainly a really good place for you to start, and then fill in the gaps in your knowledge with some of the other books on this list.

7. Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene

Real estate investing just doesn’t make sense in some markets. Some locations provide incredible returns whilst in other places you’d be lucky to find a single property that would actually return a profit.

On top of that, some areas appreciate – some simply don’t. One of the first rules of real estate investing is buying the ‘right’ property. But what if the right property for you is on the other side of the country? Should you pass up the opportunity because the property is too far away to manage?

Related: Best US Cities to Invest in Rental Properties in 2022

The answer, as David Greene explains in this book is, no. New technologies and markets mean the rules have changed. You can invest further and further afield – and if you put in place the right systems and processes for managing this investment – you use the right software and communicate with your team, then your out-of-state investment could be the best thing you ever do.

8. Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat: The BRRRR Rental Property Investment Strategy Made Simple by David M Greene

This is one is an Amazon bestseller and for a good reason. The BRRRR strategy is a tried and tested method for quickly realizing capital growth and scaling your portfolio. In this book, David covers everything you need to know to execute this strategy with an easy-to-follow plan.

9. The Mold Survival Guide: For Your Home and for Your Health by Jeffrey C. May and Connie L. May

Mold is a pervasive problem in rentals and can be a serious cause of friction between landlords and tenants. This book gives you the answers you didn’t even know you needed including the types of mold, the causes and prevention techniques as well as how to remove it and the associated unpleasant odors.

10. Every Landlord’s Guide to Managing Property by NOLO

Nolo is known for producing high-quality books on real estate, finance, and law and this book is no exception. Though aimed mostly at newer investors with small portfolios of ten or fewer units it gets into the nitty gritty of managing your properties successfully, from managing maintenance to tracking expenses.

11. Home Buying Kit For Dummies by Eric Tyson and Ray Brown

This book is an invaluable tool for first-time property buyers. It focuses on and goes into great detail about financing and negotiating mortgages and purchase prices. But there are a lot of tips, from helpful landlord forms and worksheets to calculators for comparable market analysis that are incredibly valuable for any home buyer or investor.

Final Words: Books for Real estate Investors

No book is going to give you a complete working knowledge of how to become a successful real estate investor. There is simply no replacement for experience, which is something you are going to have to go get for yourself.

However, these 11 books are a great place to start and should give you the knowledge and confidence to gain the experience you need to succeed whilst avoiding common mistakes, and shorten your learning curve.

You Might Like