Real Estate Investment Books?

[ouyang]

Hey Steve Pavlina business forum friends!

As part of my self declared "year of financial literacy" I am now looking to find a good book on investing in real estate.

Are there any books that you have read that you have found an especially good read and/or useful?

Thanks!

[jcasper]

Real Estate books that had the most influence on me:

Rich Dad Poor Dad (First book I read that talked about real estate)
The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor's Kit
Buy It, Fix It, Sell It...PROFIT
Confessions of a Real Estate Entrepreneur

While reading books was important, the most effective education I received was from local real estate investing groups. I met all of the important people I needed to start investing there. My realtor, my lender, my attorney, my carpenter, and eventually my partner.

Hope this helps.

-Jesse

[ouyang]

Hey Jesse, that was super helpful - thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

I read Rich Dad Poor Dad a few months back and since reading a few other books in Kiyosaki's series I've been inspired to look further into the world of real estate investing. Those books you recommended will be a good start.

When you say to join a local real estate investment group how does that work? How did you find the groups? At the start when you joined the group how did you get involved?

Thanks again!

-JK

[jcasper]

JK,

I am not sure about China, but in the US we have a Real Estate Investors Association which helps foster and develop organizations throughout the states. Here is their link http://www.nationalreia.com. There were two clubs in Rochester, NY that were created based on the REIA model, and I have belonged to both of them. Do a few searches online to see if you can find something near you.

Once I joined the group, my first step was to ask around for a Real Estate Agent that worked with investors and was willing to work with a first time investor. Once I found my agent I was able to work with her to develop my goals and next action steps. She then got me in touch with my mortgage broker who was able to tell me what I had to do to get qualified for my first mortgage. Once I had that initial team setup it was just a matter of asking them questions and doing my part by taking action. I was able to further get involved with the group by offering my services and knowledge of programming and internet marketing, that helped me make more contact with successful investors who were able offer invaluable advice.

If there isn't a group in your area, you can still do the same thing, it will just be a little bit more difficult to locate the people for your team. But its the same process just start asking around for a real estate agent who would be good for you.

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by jcasper

Rich Dad Poor Dad (First book I read that talked about real estate)
The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor's Kit
Buy It, Fix It, Sell It...PROFIT

These three are IMO junk - make money fast material from scammers.

OP, what aspects of real estate are you interested in? Valuation? Financing? Landlording, maintenance and repair? Being an realtor? Investing as a non-managing partner? REITs?

There are certainly good materials out there on all these topics - it just depends what you're interested in. If you haven't read Benjamin Graham's "Security Analysis" and "The Intelligent Investor", that's the place to start though. It will get you thinking correctly about investing (in real estate as well as anything else).

[ouyang]

Hey Jesse, thanks for writing me back. In a few short months I'll be moving back to Montreal, Canada, so I'll have a look on the net to see if I can find any Canadian equivalent of "The Real Estate Investors Association."

This kind of learning curve works wonders when I get involved so I look forward to jumping in. Before joining the group and getting in contact with everyone that became your team did you have any background in real estate investing?

Hey Snerp, thanks for the feedback. Considering I didn't understand half of the questions you posed I guess I'm looking for a starter's book into the world of real estate investment.

I'll add those two books to my wishlist! Thanks again for taking the time to post.

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by ouyang

I'll add those two books to my wishlist! Thanks again for taking the time to post.

Just to be clear, those two books are on the topic of how to value investments in general, not on real estate specifically. IMO they are the essential background reading before you dive into the specifics of any one type of investment. I would actually start with "The Intelligent Investor" first.

The weakness of most of the real estate material out there is that it approaches real estate from a trading as opposed to investing mentality. Some even has the absurd mentality of just trying to get you into some real estate without worrying about whether you will make money in the long run.