There are thousands of books about real estate investing, wholesaling, marketing, business management, improving your numbers, and getting better deals. As a business owner, you should continue to educate yourself to improve and grow your business.
To help, GoForClose has compiled a list of books recommended by our Founder/CEO Josh Miller and COO, Nate Worcester, as well as respected members of the Real Estate Investing Industry.
The book recommendations range from real estate investing to business and books that encourage personal thought to assist you in your path to success.
1. How to Invest in Real Estate by Joshua Dorkin and Brandon Turner
Real estate investing is a powerful way to build wealth and achieve financial freedom. Each person’s journey is different, and there is no one true way to success. So two of the biggest names in real estate came together to write this book on the different niches, strategies, and resources and goals to focus on as an investor.
“This book is super helpful for getting your feet wet and starting to understand the wide wide world of real estate investing. It goes into a little bit of detail on each topic and has a ton of helpful references to other resources to continue your education. For anyone looking to get started in real estate investing but who knows nothing about the industry, this is THE place to start.” - Dan Schnurbusch (Five Star Amazon Review)
2. The One Thing by Gary Keller
The one thing most lose sight of, when starting a business, is what actually matters. What matters most in your personal and work life? How do you free up your work space – have fewer distractions, and instead get more productivity from your work and more income for a better lifestyle?
The One Thing will help you cut through the clutter, stay on target, and achieve better results in less time with your REI business.
“If you are on the fence about buying this book because you think it's just 'another self help' book, think again. This is easily one of the best books I've ever read, with clear and understandable principles concerning what you want out of life. What's your One Thing? Gary works backwards from your answer. What's the one thing you want in 5 years? In one year? In the next 6 months? In a month? This week? Today? What can you do today that will, in essence, get you where you want to be in life?” - Luke (Five Star Amazon Review)
3. The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth with Intelligent Buy and Hold Real Estate Investing by Brandon Turner
400 pages of in-depth advice and practical strategies to help real estate investors build significant cash flow from rental properties. Turner used these same strategies to build his success and wealth in real estate, and whether you are new or an experienced investor, you can learn how to…
- Build an achievable plan
- Find incredible deals
- Analyze rental properties
- Build a winning team
- Finance your rentals
- And much more!
“My husband and I are just starting out in our real estate investment business and this book really breaks everything down for you, especially when it comes to calculating your ROI before making a purchase/deal and learning about the pros & CONS of each type of rental property. I love that he’s so honest and doesn’t just tell you that there’s one right way to do real estate. Instead he lays out the different options, plain and simple, and encourages you to do the work to decide what’s best for your lifestyle and skills. This book is not for the lazy, but rather (for) those who are willing to learn and do the work for your future and posterity. This is a great read, and I definitely recommend it for anyone just starting out in rental property investment.” - Breigha Adeyemo (Five Star Amazon Review)
4. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! By Robert T. Kiyosaki
Kiyosaki talks about how his father and the father of his best friend shaped his thoughts about money and investing. It puts the rambling thoughts you may have and the information you’ve heard before in a more digestible format, explaining the difference between working for your money and your money working for you.
“I will say it is incredibly mind opening, especially to those who are not heavily knowledgeable on certain investing options and strategies. This book had me researching more and more of the concepts discussed and even challenged me to find other ways to produce passive income. It's true that it is all in your mind and how you perceive your financial situation.” - Chels (Five Star Amazon Review)
5. Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Do you have goals and ideas for your business but not enough time to get them done? What if you had a team of people around you that can help you achieve your goals, while also accomplishing their own? It’s a win-win, right?
This book will help you make the shift from self to team, helping you…
- Build a successful business without killing yourself
- Free up 1,000+ hours of work
- Increase your vision in areas of life and business
- Build teams of WHOs who will support that vision
- Expand your innovation, relationships, and wealth
- And much more!
“ I received this book at a conference and have since bought additional copies for my people. Thanks to "Who Not How," I finally understand why I keep getting stuck trying to implement ideas or accomplish goals. It's because I've been trying to do it ALL BY MYSELF. This simple and profound book taught me that I alone don't have the skills or resources to accomplish every aspect of my goal and that's okay! It's okay to NEED PEOPLE! So the real question isn't HOW to accomplish my ideas, but WHO can help me to accomplish my ideas.” - Maleah Warner (Five Star Amazon Review)
6. The Book on Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor by Amanda Han and Matthew MacFarland
“Powerful techniques anyone can use to deduct more, invest smarter, and pay for less to the IRS.”
No one likes tax season. Han and MacFarland share how you can prepare an ongoing strategy that will make your next tax season easier, and you may even be able to maximize deductions for your real estate business. You’ll learn tips to cut down bookkeeping time, procedures to protect you from an IRS audit, strategies to write off your travel, and more!
“This is a great intro to real estate tax strategies. As a beginner investor, I felt this book gave me a great base understanding, and as a reader with a very short attention span, I appreciated that there wasn't too much fluff in comparison to other books of this type.” - Kathryn Solow (Five Star Amazon Review)
7. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
It’s the dream, right? To work to live, not live to work. This book is a blueprint for how to build success and enjoy life now rather than wait for retirement. It discusses how to…
- Outsource to qualified virtual assistants overseas
- Travel the world without quitting or losing work
- Eliminate 50 percent of your work in 48 hours
- Trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and mini retirements
- And more!
“The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss shatters existing mental models and modernized the concept of lifestyle design. This is the 800-pound guerrilla of productivity, self-improvement, and time management. Live anywhere and join the "new rich" (unrestricted time and mobility). The 4-Hour Workweek is about options; It's about decluttering your life, freeing yourself from a job and mortgage in pursuit of a happier life.” - Jesse Langel (Five Star Amazon Review)
8. Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
Do you have a grip on your business? Discover solutions to those problems entrepreneurs and business leaders regularly face, like profit woes, inadequate growth, and lack of team focus, so you can run a profitable, frustration-free business.
“I own a small business and this is by far the best book I've ever read. I don't have a background in business or marketing- I literally turned my side hustle into a legit job that pays my bills, and this book has helped me tremendously. It lays everything out with action steps that you can take immediately to improve your business. Additionally, it has "tests" that you can complete to gauge where your business is at, on a level of success, and you can track your progress.” - Shell (Five Star Amazon Review)
9. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
E-Myth: (1) the entrepreneurial myth that most people who start a small business are entrepreneurs, and (2) the fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work. (Source)
Gerber discusses how common assumptions and expectations about starting a business can get in the way of success. He also walks you through the steps in the life of a business - from infancy through adolescence to maturity, and how to work on your business versus in your business.
“This book literally changed my life. I own a small service business with around 15 employees. I had been struggling for years, doing all managerial work myself, so that it was done up to my standards. We did great work but at the expense of my sanity...The E-Myth was the driving factor that took my small business, which had been controlling my life, and transformed it into a business I could run remotely. Before I read this book, I was working on site 9 hours a day, 6 days a week. Less than a year after reading this, I was able to take a six-month vacation around the world while my business ran itself.” - Gracie (Five Star Amazon Review)
10. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach to solving problems, both personal and professional. The principles he provides give you the security to adapt to change, as well as the wisdom and ability to take advantage of those opportunities that change creates.
“This book gives you an understanding of how to live a life based on principles. With every chapter you grow from inside out. The precious teachings contained here will resonate with you, because they make all the sense in the world, and you'll notice you can apply them in every aspect of your life. It's wonderfully written, very clear and easy to understand and incorporate in your life. It has helped me in my marriage, my career, my friendships, my family. I go back to it every now and then, and it always feels right, contemporary, and accurate.” - Claudia Pino (Five Star Amazon Review)
Other Real Estate Investing and Business Books
Book Name
The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs
Making Big Money Investing in Real Estate: Without Tenants, Banks, or Rehab Projects
The Millionaire Real Estate Investor
The ABCs of Real Estate Investing
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
How to Manage Residential Property for Maximum Cash Flow and Resale Value
80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More
Real Estate Marketing Playbook
The Book on Flipping Houses: How to Buy, Rehab, and Resell Residential Properties
Author
J Scott
David Finkel
Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
Ken McElroy
David Allen
Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters
John Reed
Perry Marshall
Brandon Doyle
J Scott
GoForClose Can Help You Turn What You Read into Profitable Action
Suppose you want to focus on sales and closing deals, innovation, and growing your team. In that case, GoForClose can help by managing two of the most complicated and time-consuming actions of any successful real estate investing (or wholesaling) business:
- Finding and Building Motivated Homeowner Lists
- Marketing to Motivated Seller Leads
Our trained Inside Sales Associates (ISA) are efficient at live answering leads and nurturing them till they are “Ready to Sell,” at which point they prequalify and provide a warm transfer to you or your team to close the deal.
If you want to take what you read and turn it into profitable action, we are ready and eager to help you build a successful REI business.
If you have questions or are curious to know more, request a free consultation below.
