SFR Investor · Orange County, CA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
Originally posted by Dewayne:
The book I'm reading right now, Real Estate Riches by Dolf De Roos.
I read his Making Money in Real Estate last year. A very good book. No hype, no get rich quick schemes, no BS, just the plain honest truth that if you build your empire by working slowly and carefully, you will eventually find yourself atop a nice mountain of wealth.
The other book I finished recently that I really enjoyed was David Schumacher's Buy & Hold Real Estate Strategy: How To Secure Profits in Any Real Estate Market (John Wiley & Sons, New York, May 1992, March 1993 & March 1994 with Dr. Erik Page Bucy). It's a little dated, but I swear, when you read this book from 1992 you will NOT believe how much it sounds like today! He recently released a new edition called BUY & HOLD FOREVER: How to Build Wealth for the 21st Century (released 2010) which I plan on ordering soon.
The Donald's Art of the Deal is a very entertaining read with some good business concepts for us all to adopt (handshakes and sticking to your word, win-win situations for all, paying top dollar for good help, etc.), but like someone else said, it's NOT a how-to REI book for the non-billionaires in this group.
Finally, I subscribe to the Personal Real Estate Investor magazine http://nexzuspub.com/, but I'm not sure if I'm going to renew. There's a little info in there, but not a lot that I can use, and the magazine seems like a front for a number of gurus, REI businesses, and brokers. I'm curious if anyone else is familiar with this pub.
Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
14y
My recommended reading list for new investors (not real estate investing specific, leans more toward mindset):
Richest Man in Babylon - I think every kid in America should read this. Way more important than Of Mice and Men.
The Millionaire Next Door - Puts into perspective how wealthy people really live. They all don't live in 5,000 Sq/Ft house and drive Ferrari's.
Good Debt, Bad Debt - Yes, there is good debt!
Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle (anything by Jim Rohn is priceless, but this one really connected with me)
The Compound Effect - written by a former Jim Rohn (he's dead now) student. Excellent information, but a little sales pitchey for his Success magazine. This book is a take off of one of those 5 pieces. It provides a more in-depth analysis.
Trump - Art of the Deal (first investing book I ever bought) and recently reread it = I think it is awesome!
Who Moved My Cheese - All about keeping focused on where the opportunities are and not on where they were AND it is a fun story about 2 rats in a maze.
Winning Through Intimidation - Teaches you how to fake it until you make it.
Getting Everything You Can Out of All That You've Got (Top 5 for me! Opened my eyes to all that is available to me every day, but that I didn't see)
You can Negotiate Anything, and Negotiate This! - both by Herb Cohen and both are awesome
My Life & 1000 Houses (I read all 396 pages in one sitting)
Cash Flow Quadrant - also by Robert Kiyosaki.
SFR Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2009 · 184 posts · 55 votes
14y
I'll second the recommendation of John T. Reed.
Not so much for his books as for his reviews of all the other guru books. If a book is promoting something illegal or unethical, he will "out" it. And if the author has done sketchy things, he calls it as he sees it.
As a result, there are very few authors that he recommends:
Lonnie Scruggs
Bob Bruss
Jane Garvey
William Nickerson
Jay P. DeCima
John Schaub
Note that most of the motivational books are NOT recommended for differing reasons.
Involved In Real Estate · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2012 · 216 posts · 42 votes
14y
I'd like to say I really like John Reed both for his books and for the guru reviews. He really tells it like it is and is very informative. The only thing I don't like is that he can be negative but I prefer that to the puffy uninformative bull crap most of the gurus push. I highly recommend "Best Practices for the Intelligent Real estate Investor." Once you figure out what niche you like I recommend any of his books on that particular topic. "How to buy Real Estate for at Least 20% Below Value " is good also. When it comes to tax time his book is great.
As far as for rentals "Landlording" by Leigh Robinson is definitive.
I first read these two authors back in the library at UGA while I was in school and since then have been very disappointed by most of the dozens of other books I have read on the subject. There is just no meat to most real estate investment books out there.
Lastly "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham is about the stock market but I think that anyone who invests in anything should read it. I also recommend the letter's to shareholders and annual reports of Berkshire Hathaway. You can see how a true investing genius works from those.
Virtual Assistant · Austin, TX · Member since 2012 · 51 posts · 2 votes
14y
I like to reading the book of Stephen Covey "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" .. It is a very inspiring book that every individual should read and would learn a lot of things from it.
Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
14y
Originally posted by Tim Czarkowski:
...
I first read these two authors back in the library at UGA while I was in school and since then have been very disappointed by most of the dozens of other books I have read on the subject. There is just no meat to most real estate investment books out there.
...
You have just pointed out the reason WHY I suggest to everybody to get a library card and read books for free. A few pages in and you can usually tell if there is anything worthwhile, at which point you can return the book and get another. And if it is good, you don't have to read it to completion from the library - because it might be worth buying for your own library collection.
Real Estate Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2013 · 415 posts · 84 votes
13y
Originally posted by Bryan Hancock:
William Nickerson's, "How I Turned $1,000 into Five Million in Real Estate in My Spare Time" has been recommended to me several times. I haven't read it to date.
Any comments on this title?
I too have heard this is a great read by a number of people and actually have it on the way. I will update once I have this one read.
One I just finished and recommend is by Rich Weese and is "From Janitor to Multi-Millionaire" was a great read on how he made it big and gets your to open your mind to being creative in your deals.
Real Estate Consultant · Camarillo, CA · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
13y
I have read many of the mentioned books. Add this to the list. There is a lot newbies and oldbies can learn from some very creative people.
Trump Strategies for Real Estate: Billionaire Lessons for the Small Investor by George Ross