Most landlords learn the ins and outs of property management on the job. While experience is often the best teacher, learning best practices for investing in real estate, managing a property, handling renters, and maintaining finances can lead to challenging missteps. Luckily, many successful landlords and investors have written helpful books for first-time landlords or those who are looking to improve their skills with property management, renter difficulties, smart investing, and other elements of maintaining rental properties.
Here, we’ve rounded up 11 of the best books for landlords interested in real estate investment, property management, and financial savings.
Real Estate Investing Books
Read these books to learn how to successfully invest in rental real estate property.
The Book on Rental Property and Investing – Brandon Turner
Turner, real estate entrepreneur and executive for top real estate site biggerpockets.com, offers advice on how to invest in rental properties. With clear, linear guidance, Turner provides straightforward instructions for how to purchase a property and turn it into a successful rental.
Millionaire Real Estate Investor – Gary Keller
Keller, an entrepreneur and author, offers 100 investors’ stories and lessons about amassing wealth through real estate investment. The investors included in the book come from a variety of backgrounds and manage different types of properties. With such a wide range of insight, you are guaranteed to unearth some useful information that you can apply to your own investing strategy.
Buy It, Rent It, Profit!: Make Money as a Landlord in Any Real Estate Market – Bryan M. Chavis
Chavis, the founder of The Landlord Property Management Academy, covers everything from investing in property to managing renters in his book. This is a great one-stop book if you’re a busy landlord looking for a wide range of property management information in one text.
Property Management Books
Learn best practices on managing your rental property with these four reads.
The Book on Managing Rental Property – Brandon Turner and Heather Turner
This follow-up to Turner’s first book, The Book on Rental Property and Investing, will provide you with guidance on managing a rental property. It features anecdotes from the Turners’ personal experiences managing properties. Use his tips to structure an effective property management strategy to save money, time, and headaches.
Every Landlord’s Guide to Managing Property: The Ultimate Property Management Guide for the Do-It-Yourself Landlord – Michael Boyer
Attorney Michael Boyer’s book offers clear guidance on how to handle every aspect of managing a property with renters. Since this book focuses on the landlord experience for those with four or fewer properties, it’s a great choice if you’re an independent landlord new to property management.
Landlording on Autopilot: A Simple, No-Brainer System for Higher Profits and Fewer Headaches – Mike Butler
Butler managed a number of properties while working full time. His book discusses best practices for creating efficient systems for busy landlords, such as those who have full-time jobs or other commitments. It offers techniques for managing renters along with useful forms and documents to save time when communicating with renters.
100 Things Every Homeowner Must Know: How to Save Money, Solve Problems and Improve Your Home – Editors of Family Handyman
The editors of Family Handyman compiled the top 100 tricks for maintaining a home without hiring expensive professionals. This book is ideal if you’re hoping to maintain your rental properties on your own. It provides clear, easy-to-understand instructions for common house repairs as well as preventive measures ou can take.
Financial and Legal Guidance Books
As a landlord, you are responsible for understanding a variety of complex financial and legal structures. These four books can help you navigate these complicated subjects.
Every Landlord’s Legal Guide – NOLO
NOLO, the online legal encyclopedia, produced “Every Landlord’s Legal Guide” to provide legal guidance specific to real estate, leasing, and taxation organized by each state’s specific laws. You can find quick, accurate answers to basic legal questions in this book. Additionally, the book provides recommendations for real estate lawyers in each state should you have supplementary or more complex questions.
What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow…And 36 Other Key Financial Measures – Frank Gallinelli
Gallinelli, the founder of RealData Software, explains complex financial terms related to real estate in accessible terms. He offers guidance on how to avoid unrealistic expectations about a property’s potential value. If you’re new to real estate investment, this book can help provide a framework for what to look for in a successful rental property and help avoid emotional investment. Additionally, it explains valuable financial metrics that will impact the long-term value of the property.
Loopholes of Real Estate – Garrett Sutton
Sutton’s book discusses the financial implications of managing a rental property, particularly in taxation and legality from the perspective of a licensed attorney. If accounting and legal expertise are not your forte, this book can help bridge the knowledge gap to prevent expensive legal or tax implications.
Every Landlord’s Tax Deduction Guide – Stephen Fishman J.D.
Fishman, a licensed attorney, explains how to file taxes appropriately for maximum financial savings. Don’t have a background in real estate tax law? No sweat, this book will help you understand how to value your property and other taxable elements of property management to save as much money on taxes as possible.
Successful property management comes down to expert knowledge. The more you know, the more capable you’ll be at making complex decisions with high-stakes financial consequences. These 11 books should help you increase your understanding of investing in real estate, successfully managing renters, maintaining your property, and handling the financial aspects of property management.
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