I wanted to share the top 5 beginner books I recommend to anybody and everybody that asks about real estate investing, how to understand it, how to get started, etc. This is the cheapest crash course you can find and it is the foundation before expanding into other books, teachings, etc. 

This is not a definitive list but just an article I wrote for someone else and I wanted to post it here. There are many, many other books I recommend for specific niches such as Raising Private Capital, The Best Every Apartment Syndication Book, and Michael Blank's books, but below are the 5 books that laid the foundation for my understanding of this business from a qualitative and quantitative standpoint.

• What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow...and 36 Other Key Financial Measures by Frank Gallinelli 

This book is the analyst's bible. It is the book that breaks down the financial formulas and real estate jargon for the layperson. By reading this book, one can begin to comprehend how to analyze, understand, and make decisions on real estate investment opportunities. A benefit of this book is the inclusion of templates and a link to download complimentary financial analysis tools that one can use to practice analyses and to analyze real opportunities.

• The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller 

Written by a very successful real estate agent, investor, and brokerage executive, this book walks an aspiring investor through the necessary mindset required to succeed in real estate investing. It also provides a breakdown of business systems and processes that an investor can use to dictate what investments they will focus on and how much wealth they plan to create. It is simple to follow and has many impactful questions throughout that allow one to dig deep into one's psyche and understand one's WHY for their real estate investing journey.

• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

Anyone who has spent any time in real estate investing or success seminar circles will stumble upon this book. It can elevate one's consciousness from a fixed understanding of earning money and paying bills, to truly comprehending passive income and how to go about achieving this remarkable lifestyle change. By simplifying the method by which anyone can achieve passive income streams, the author creates a paradigm shift in his readers. This is all told through a wonderful tale of his childhood and growing up with two fathers - a Rich one (his best friend's dad) and a Poor one (his own dad). It is quite an impressive tale and anyone who has read the book will sing its praises as life-changing and often the spark that started them on their journey to financial independence.

• Real Estate Finance and Investments by Peter Linneman, Ph.D

This is an academic textbook written by a prominent real estate expert. He is a professor at one of the US's best schools and an experienced practitioner in the real estate field. This book is more for the academically and analytically inclined, but it is chock full of industry keywords, real-life case studies of true investments, and it dives deep into an understanding of real estate as a real investment, and not just a passing fad.

• The Real Estate Game by William J. Poorvu

Authored by an experienced professor at HBS and a practitioner in the field, this book focused on DECISION-MAKING when it comes to real estate investing. We are often faced with competing opportunities and limited resources, as such, it is essential to make the best decisions one can make when putting their own money and other investors' money on the line. This book is full of stories about real investors and how they have "played the game" of real estate investing to succeed at a high level. This book dives a lot into the qualitative factors of the industry and the many players involved, thus giving one an understanding of the true interconnectedness of the industry and how important and valuable networking can be.

Bottom Line: These 5 books cover financial analysis, purpose, mindset, technical jargon, and a high-level overview of the industry. Armed with the data in these 5 books, an investor will naturally know their next best steps in their investing journey.