Book/podcast for wife

[Jason Drager]

My wife has agreed to get on-board with me getting us into rental property investing.  This is very exciting for me, as my wife is extremely risk averse, but has warmed up to the idea over time.  She asked for a recommendation or two of books for me to "assign" to her, or perhaps a podcast episode to two, to help her learn some basics.

For me part, I've listened to probably 30-50 BiggerPockets and BP Rookie podcasts so far, and I'm in the process of reading Multi-Family Millionaire.  I have an MBA with an emphasis in finance, and personal finance is a hobby of mine, so while I'm comfortable with many of the concepts I'm learning about, my wife has fairly low financial literacy and next-to-no investment/real estate literacy.

I've "assigned" her Rich Dad, Poor Dad, not necessarily because I think it's the best book ever (there were a number of concept presentations that didn't really resonate with me), but because it seemed like a very adequate beginner's primer for financial mindset shifting.

What I would really appreciate is if someone could recommend a book or two, or a couple of specific podcast episodes, that I can give to my wife so that she can start learning enough to be involved in some of the decision-making process.

Thank you to everyone for the helpful advice given on these forums; it's been a great resource for me, and I hope we'll get to the point where it's a great resource for my wife.

[Greg Scott]

Half way through your post I was going to suggest Rich Dad / Poor Dad.  Good choice.

I'd also suggest Richest Man in Babylon.  It really isn't a real estate book but in very basic terms describes why you want to own a business.

Finally, I'd suggest getting around like-minded people.  My wife had nothing to do with our early real estate investing, but I took her to a group event in Dallas and then we had a nice weekend hanging out doing touristy things.  Next time we went down to Dallas, she had some friends.  They started talking to her about their investing and probably did more to get her excited about it than I did.  After all, I'm just her husband, so I have no credibility!  ;-)

[Austin Kuhnle]

Awesome to hear! I'm a contractor in Des Moines, and Ames area if you ever need any help with anything. Couple books that have really helped me is "ABCs Of Real Estate Investing" by Ken McElroy. And "How to Invest in Real Estate" by Josh Dorkin and Brandon Turner.  Rich dad Poor dad is the first book I'd recommend which I seen you already assigned that to her. Also just any of the BP podcast are great. 

[Bruce Lynn]

Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller.

Also I would bring her to Brad Sumroks Rat Race 2 Retirement this Spring in Dallas.   Plenty of women there.   She'll fit in.   The women moreso than the men, very humble and just as successful.

[Ramiz Rahman]

Not a Real Estate book, but 4 Hour Work Week can help change our mindset.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Jason Drager:

I'll give you some basic advice below. You definitely want to get her around some other investors. Try to find an investment group in your area where she can hear from others. Birds of a feather...

Go to NETWORK at the top of your screen and you can search for other investors and investment groups in your area. You can also check meetup.com or search facebook for real estate investment groups, clubs, or meetings in your area

1. Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free). It will familiarize you with the basic terminology and benefits. Then you can read a more in-depth book like The Book On Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner or The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing by Spencer Strauss.

2. Get your finances in order. Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save. The idea that you can build wealth without putting any money into it is a recipe for disaster and the sales pitch of gurus trying to steal your money. A wise investor will not try to get rich quick with shortcuts. If you can't keep control of your personal finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing. Check out my personal favorite, Set For Life by Scott Trench , or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

3. As you read these books, watch the BiggerPockets podcasts. This will clarify and reinforce what you are reading. You can hear real-world examples of how others have built their investment portfolio and (hopefully) learn to avoid their mistakes.

4. Now you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them. Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books for this or you can learn by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum. There is a handy search bar in the upper right that makes it easy to find previous discussions, blogs, podcasts, and other resources. BiggerPockets also has a calculator you can use to analyze deals and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy. If you consistently analyze properties, it will be much easier to recognize a good deal when it shows up. Find Brandon's videos on YouTube for the "four square" method of analyzing homes and practice. It doesn't take long to learn how to spot a good deal.

5. Study the market. You can learn to do this on your own or get a rockstar REALTOR to lead the way. I highly recommend a well-qualified REALTOR that works with investors and knows how to best help you.

6. Jump in! Far too many get stuck in the "paralysis by analysis" stage, thinking they just don't know enough to get started. The truth is, you could read 100 books and still not know enough because certain things need to be learned through trial-and-error. You don't need to know everything to get started; you just need a foundation to build on and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.

You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months. How long it takes to be financially ready is different for everyone. Once you're ready, create a goal (e.g. "I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2019") and then do it. Real estate investing is a pretty forgiving world and the average person can still make money even with some pretty big mistakes.

[Ashley Noethe]

Hi Jason! Congrats on deciding to get into rental property investing! We own a 5-plex in Indianola and a few other single-family rentals through seller financing throughout Iowa (as well as an airbnb in Georgia). It seems people here have touched on a lot of great options for real estate specific books, but I'd also add I think some more general entrepreneurial/mindset books would be great as well. For me personally, I think reading those sorts of books got me fired up and more willing to take on risk and go after those big dreams. This may seem silly, but an absolute favorite of mine was You Are A Bad*** by Jen Sincero. Definitely helped me get over some mind hurdles. We are somewhat local to you, so feel free to reach out whenever or I'm always willing to meet for coffee. Best of luck!

[Henry Clark]

Each of your deal analysis do a failure analysis.  Walk her thru it.  

Your excited.  Everyone is excited.  Look at all the money you’re going to make.  At first his will push her away if she is risk averse.  Help her understand the risk. 

Most people will never do a REI. Afraid to jump off the cliff. Help her see failure. Most people think failure is losing everything. Going to zero.

We do self storage.  My most happy moment is hitting 65% occupancy.  That is when we hit cash flow break even for our deals.  Gorilla is off our back then.  I hate hitting 100% because we lost revenue.  We should have raised rates.  Or we should have built.  

Show her in your SFH or MFH deal what failure looks like. Say your Cashflow you don't make any money? Is that failure? Could be an appreciation deal on top of that. Say you missed your inspection and you need a new roof for $25,000. She will now understand her risk.

Then show her the profit potential. Cash flow, appreciation, tax write offs.  Say $200 per door per month.  Appreciation of $50,000 in 2 years.  Tax savings if $5,000 per year.  

Now she can compare her upside versus her downside.  Not as big a jump off the cliff.  

Now go over “Why” with her.  Early retirement, reduced work week, financial freedom, etc. 

[Steven Foster Wilson]

Quote from @Jason Drager:

My wife has agreed to get on-board with me getting us into rental property investing.  This is very exciting for me, as my wife is extremely risk averse, but has warmed up to the idea over time.  She asked for a recommendation or two of books for me to "assign" to her, or perhaps a podcast episode to two, to help her learn some basics.

For me part, I've listened to probably 30-50 BiggerPockets and BP Rookie podcasts so far, and I'm in the process of reading Multi-Family Millionaire.  I have an MBA with an emphasis in finance, and personal finance is a hobby of mine, so while I'm comfortable with many of the concepts I'm learning about, my wife has fairly low financial literacy and next-to-no investment/real estate literacy.

I've "assigned" her Rich Dad, Poor Dad, not necessarily because I think it's the best book ever (there were a number of concept presentations that didn't really resonate with me), but because it seemed like a very adequate beginner's primer for financial mindset shifting.

What I would really appreciate is if someone could recommend a book or two, or a couple of specific podcast episodes, that I can give to my wife so that she can start learning enough to be involved in some of the decision-making process.

Thank you to everyone for the helpful advice given on these forums; it's been a great resource for me, and I hope we'll get to the point where it's a great resource for my wife.

 Hey Jason, I was about to recommend Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki but it seems like you already got that covered. That is an amazing read! You could also try John Maxwell's Good Leaders Ask Great Questions. This will help you be efficient in seeking the wisdom from other people, get benefits from their passion, get insight into people's attitude, engage with their network and more.