The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth With Intelligent Buy and Hold Real Estate Investing

by Brandon Turner

Every strategy, tool, tip, and technique you need to become a millionaire rental property investor!

If you’re considering using real estate investing to build wealth or obtain financial freedom, this book is a must-read. With nearly 400 pages of in-depth advice, The Book on Rental Property Investing imparts practical and exciting strategies that investors across the world are using to build significant cash flow with rental properties.

Brandon Turner―active real estate investor, bestselling author, and co-host of the BiggerPockets Podcast―has one goal in mind: to help you find success and avoid the junk that pulls down so many wannabes. New and experienced investors alike will learn how to build an achievable plan, find incredible deals, analyze properties, build a team, finance rentals, and much more―everything you need to become a millionaire rental property investor.

Inside, you’ll discover:
- Why many real estate investors fail, and how you can ensure you don’t!
- Four unique, easy-to-follow strategies you can begin implementing today
- Creative tips for finding incredible deals―even in competitive markets
- How to achieve success without touching a toilet, paintbrush, or broom
- Actionable ideas for financing rentals, no matter how much cash you have
- Advice on keeping your wealth by deferring (and eliminating) taxes
- And so much more!

Genres: Business, Finance, Nonfiction, Personal Finance, Money, Self Help, Personal Development

356 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2020

About the author

Brandon Turner is an author, entrepreneur, and active real estate investor with more than 500 rental units and dozens of rehabs under his belt. He is the Vice President of BiggerPockets, co-host of The BiggerPockets Podcast, and author of four books, including The Book on Rental Property Investing and How to Invest in Real Estate. Brandon has also been featured in numerous online and print publications—like Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com, and Money Magazine—where he enjoys showing others the power and impact of real estate investing and financial freedom. A life-long adventurer, Brandon (along with his wife and daughter) splits his time between his home in Maui, Hawaii and various other destinations around the globe.

Reviews

[Hussam Al Husseini · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is amazing and the author covers exactly what the title implies. Everything!! I would recommend it without a second thought. The book can be summarized as follows:

CHAPTER 1 WHY I LOVE RENTAL PROPERTIES
Why Rental Properties?
1 Ability to purchase with leverage
2 Ability to hustle for greater returns
3 Ability to manage investment directly
4 People always need a place to live
5 It has worked for millions of people before
6 Fairly stable and predictable
7 Incredible variety
8 Simple and straightforward. Just learn the strategies!
9 You can buy below market value
10 Insider trader is legal
11 Not having to be present to make money
12 Unlike house flipping, which takes advantage of only forced appreciation, with rental properties you can capitalize on all four of real estate’s major profit sources (the four wealth generator), which are:
1 Appreciation: which could be natural or forced. The problem with relying on appreciation is what happened in 2007! “There is no denying the incredible role appreciation has played in investor’s lives, but there is also no denying the risk involved in relying on appreciation to make a profit,” especially when the market is appreciating like crazy.
2 Cash flow
3 Tax savings
4 Loan paydown: “You can automate part of your wealth building by simply obtaining a loan on your rental property and using the income from your tenants to pay that loan down each and every month.”

Downsides of Rental Property Investing
1 Building wealth takes time
2 It can be all consuming
3 You have to deal with difficult people
4 It involves paperwork and bookkeeping
5 You can lose your investment

How Much Money Does One Need to Invest in Rental Properties? In simple terms, enough to cover your down payment and reserves.

You can use leverage (loan) for your down payment. However, the more leverage you use, the greater the risk you may be taking. So think "How secure you are" instead of "What is the percentage of leverage."

Reserves? Do NOT forget cash reserves to cover any problems you might face. The author recommends starting with six months of expenses for each unit you have.

To Quit or not to Quit?
1 Rental properties build wealth slowly so quitting your job soon through rental properties will be tough.
2 Real estate investing can be a job or an investment. Which do you want? “House flipping and real estate wholesaling are jobs. Owning rentals is an investment.”
3 Even if you can quit, should you? If you do so, you lose compound interest and exponential growth, which means the earned money is reinvested again in more assets. You will live off and lose the second wealth generator, cash flow. However, there are two ways to live off your cash flow, there are two ways:
1 The “cash flow per door” method. In simple words, “after all the bills are paid each month, how much money is left over per unit?” And how many units you need to survive.
2 The “return on investment” method. You look at the return on investment and the annual cash flow you want to retire with to know the amount of cash you should invest. Use the following simple formula: Annual Cash Flow / Interest Rate = Cash Invested

CHAPTER 2 THE FIVE KEYS TO RENTAL PROPERTY SUCCESS
Think. Study and learn. Pick the right plan. Acquire assets. Manage them.

CHAPTER 3 FOUR SAMPLE PLANS
The author discussed four strategies to build wealth through rental properties.

CHAPTER 4 THE TEN MEMBERS OF YOUR REAL ESTATE TEAM
1 Spouse
2 Mentor/Accountability Partner. Your mentor should be your friend, not a paid coach.
3 Real Estate Agent. They will help you with the listed properties, not the “for sale by owner” properties. Most real estate agents are terrible and will not help you. Build a relationship with a great agent. “Never rely on an agent to make decisions for you.”
4 Lender(s)
5 Contractors and Handymen
6 Bookkeeper
7 CPA (Certified public accountant)
8 Lawyer
9 Insurance Agent
10 Property Manager

CHAPTER 5 ANALYZING A RENTAL PROPERTY
You need to understand the numbers and do the math. Never let anyone else do it for you. The two most important factors when analyzing a rental property are:
1 Appreciation. It is the equity gained as the property value increases.
2 Cash flow

Before You Analyze a Rental Property you need to know:
1 Cash Flow
1 Calculating Income.
2 Calculating Expenses, which include: Mortgage, taxes, insurance, flood insurance (if needed), water, sewer, garbage, gas, electricity, HOA (home owner’s association) fees (if applicable), snow removal, lawn care.
The following four expenses are difficult to calculate and thus “we need to look at those numbers as percentages and translate those percentages into dollar amounts.”
Vacancy: Know the typical vacancy rate. Let’s say it is 5% and the property rents for $1,000 per month, “you simply multiply $1,000 by 0.05 to get $50. This is the amount you will want to include for your vacancy expense each month.”
Repairs: The author assumes repairs to cost around 5% to 15% yearly.
CapEx: Estimate how many years the expensive “big ticket” items will last and how much they will cost and then divide these out by the number of years. CapEx is almost the same for cheap and expensive properties. “What this means is that CapEx is much greater percentage of the income, the lower the property value.”
Property management

Cash-on-cash return on investment (CoCROI)
It is a “simple metric that tells us what kind of yield our money is making us based only on the cash flow (ignoring appreciation, tax benefits, and the loan pay down).
CoCROI = Total Annual Cash Flow / Total Investment

Two “Rules of Thumb” That Might Help. The following rules are not strictly accurate.
1 The 50% rule. “A rental property’s expenses tend to be about 50% of the income, not including the mortgage P&I payment.”
Cash Flow = (Total Income x 0.5) – Mortgage P&I
2 The 2% rule. “[It] is simply the ratio between rental income and purchase price. ‘Meeting the 2% rule’ means that a property’s monthly rental income must equal 2% of the purchase price or greater.”
Monthly Rental Income / Purchase Price = X
However, the percentage (2%) is not fixed and it depends upon several factors.

Steps to Analyze a Property
Step One: Figure Out Total Project Cost
1 Purchase Price
2 Purchase Closing Costs: “Included might be loan points, loan origination fees, prepaid insurance, prepaid property taxes, title and escrow fees, recording fees, attorney charges, and other fees custom to your area.”
3 Pre-Rent Holding Costs: “These costs will likely be the mortgage, taxes, insurance, and utilities.”
4 Estimated Repairs
Step Two: Figure Out The Financing and Total Cost Out of Pocket
“We [need] to determine how much the financing on this property will cost us each month.” The down payment percentage is based on the purchase price alone. It will not cover the closing costs, pre-rent holding costs, or the repairs. Total Project Cost – Loan Amount = Total Cash Needed
Step Three: Calculate the Monthly Mortgage Payment
Use a mortgage calculator. You need three numbers:
1 Loan amount
2 Loan period (length)
3 Interest rate
Step Four: Determine Total Income
Step Five: Determine Total Expenses
Step Six: Evaluate the Deal
Now we have all the numbers we need. We will determine the cash flow and the CoCROI it represents. However, take into consideration that this CoCROI “does not take into account the fact that the loan is being paid down each month, that the home has some incredible equity build in (since we did a slight rehab on it), and that there may be other tax benefits to go with it, or that would at least minimize the tax we would need to pay on the property.”

CHAPTER 6 INVESTING WHILE LIVING IN AN EXPENSIVE AREA
When you compare two deals together, take into consideration the “price relativity,” purchase price vs rental income.

Long-Distance Rental Property Investing
It is difficult if not done correctly. The following three strategies will help in this regard:
1 DIY “Do It Yourself:” The author does not recommend this strategy to new investors.
2 Using a Long-Distance Partner
3 Turnkey Investing. “[It] is a loosely defined investment strategy in which the investor buys, rehabs, and has a property managed through a third party, usually from a long distance away.”

CHAPTER 7 TYPES OF RENTAL PROPERTIES
The author discusses the different types of rental properties.

CHAPTER 8 LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
Properties and neighborhoods are classified into A, B, C, and D because of their location, which is affected by: Crime, drugs, schools, jobs vs unemployment, population growth, housing starts and building permits, transportation, proximity to local businesses, price-to-rent ratio, vacancy rates, and property tax and insurance rates.

CHAPTER 9 HOW TO FIND RENTAL PROPERTIES
There are eight different ways you can find investment properties:
1 The MLS, or Multiple Listing Service. It is “the collection of all homes listed for sale by real estate agents in your area.” The author’s top ten list for getting a great deal on the MLS:
2 Direct mail marketing for deals. “Direct mail is the act of sending out a large number of targeted letters or postcards to people who might be interested in selling their property … The best list you can buy and mail to is the ‘absentee’ list. This means that the person on record for owning a property does not actually live in the property you can find and purchase these lists from companies such as ListSource.com or MelissaData.com.” Repeat sending to the same list!
3 Driving for dollars.
4 Eviction records
5 BiggerPockets marketplace
6 Craigslist. “[It] is an online classified section where it is free to post and free to browse.”
7 Wholesalers
8 Passion. Let people know of your intentions.

CHAPTER 10 WHICH PROPERTIES MAKE THE BEST RENTALS?
What to look for when you are searching for a rental property:
1 Bedrooms. Unlike three- or four-bedroom houses, “it is hard to get long-term tenants in a one- or two-bedroom house.” Tenants who rent a five- or more bedrooms have more kids, which is not good for the property.
2 Age. Older homes need more fixing and the utilities bills are higher.
3 Garage. Properties with garages tend to be rented far longer than those that do not.
4 Utilities. Choose properties that the tenant will pay for their utilities.
5 Lawn. Choose properties with small yards. Tenants will not take care of large yards efficiently.
6 Parking
7 Location

Eight Problems [the author] look[s] for when shopping for a property that help him get a better deal:
1 The bigfoot smell. It is very easy to get rid of unless the cause is coming from a busted sewer line. This will cost you a lot.
2 The hidden third bedroom. Try, if you are able, to convert a two-bedroom house into a three-bedroom house. The jump in benefit is amazing. The same does not apply to three- into four-bedroom.
3 Ugly countertops and cabinets. It is cheap to convert an ugly old kitchen into a brand new one.
4 The bad roof. Changing a leaky roof into a new one is costly but easy.
5 M…M… Mold?! Mold is a fungus that is present almost everywhere especially places with moisture. So eliminate the moisture to eliminate the visible mold.
6 Compartmentalized configuration
7 Jungle landscaping
8 Junk, junk, and more junk

Three problems to avoid in a property:
1 Neighborhood
2 Foundation issues
3 Shared driveways

CHAPTER 11 SUBMITTING YOUR OFFER
1 How to make an offer
2 The earnest money deposit
Most earnest money deposits tend to be 1% to 2% of the purchase price. It is given to a third party, not directly to the seller, who is handling the closing. So what happens to the earnest money?
1 If the sale goes through, the earnest money becomes part of the cash the buyer would be required to bring to closing.
2 If the sale does not go through, and the buyer does not have a legal reason to back out, then the deposit is forfeited to the seller.
3 If the sale does not go through, and the buyer does have a legal reason to back out, the deposit is returned to the buyer.
That is why you might need to include some contingencies in your offer, the two most commonly used are inspection and financing.

3 What should the offer include. “Every real estate offer can basically be boiled down to the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the deal.
WHO is making the offer and to WHOM?
What is being bought and for WHAT amount?
WHERE am I getting the funds? (the financing)
WHEN am I panning to buy it? (the closing date)
WHY would I back out of this offer? (the contingencies)
HOW is this all going to happen? (the fine print)

4 How much should you offer? It depends on the financials and the situation. You need sometimes to offer a low price, sometimes more than the listed price, and sometimes in between.

16 tips for getting your offer accepted
1 Work fast
2 Offer you best up front
3 Submit a letter with your offer
4 Discover the seller’s true motivation
5 Feel uncomfortable
6 All cash helps
7 Remove the financing contingency
8 Waive the inspection contingency
9 Close faster
10 Give two offers
11 More earnest money
12 Prove your pre-approval letter with the offer
13 Include an escalation clause
14 Offer to clean out the property
15 Pay the seller’s closing costs
16 Offer again

CHAPTER 12 REAL ESTATE NEGOTIATION
You can negotiate for any of the following:
1 Price
2 Closing date
3 Closing location
4 Contingencies
5 Financing: Will the seller agree to carry a second mortgage on the property?
6 Closing costs: Who will pay for what during the closing process?
7 Home warranty: A home warranty is sometimes included in the sale of a home and covers certain repair items after the sale happens. This can help smooth any concerns on the part of the buyer. Will you deal include one? If so, who will pay for it?
8 Repairs: What do you need the seller to fix before you purchase the property? Will you hold them to it? Will you buy the property “as is”?
9 Credits: What about getting credits at closing toward certain repairs that are needed? If a new roof is needed, and the seller does not want to put one on before closing, could you negotiate the cost of a new roof given to you at closing?
10 Possession date
11 Items left in the property

13 Tips for Successful Negotiation
1 Be prepared to walk away. “Also, make sure the other party knows that you are prepared to walk from the deal if you do not get what you need.”
2 Know your role
3 Always get last concession
4 Find true motivation
5 Use a red herring
6 Institute a penalty when they ask for concessions
7 Stick to your numbers
8 Do not get offended
9 Negotiate with data
10 Do not be insulting
11 Let the other party feel good
12 Demonstrate why you are a great buyer
13 Ask for their lowest price, then go lower

CHAPTER 13 FINANCING YOUR RENTAL PROPERTY
Traditional methods for financing your property are:
1 All cash. When compared with getting a loan: Safe. More cash flow. Lower CoCROI and lower appreciation percentage, more tax payments. No loan paydown. Lawyers might be more motivated to sue you if you use all-cash because it is a sign that you own money. So when you plan to use all cash on your investment, pay attention to the following tips:
1 Pretend you are not
2 Use entities wisely: At least hide the fact that you own 100% of the property
3 Consider financing later
2 Conventional loans
3 Portfolio lenders
4 Private lenders

Other creative methods are:
1 Home equity: “[Your] equity can be borrowed against at very low interest rates through a home equity loan or home equity line of credit.”
2 Partnerships
3 Seller financing
4 House hacking: “[It] refers to the unique strategy of combining your primary residence with an investment.” This can be done by either:
1 A live-in flip: Buy a single-family house with the intention of fixing it up and reselling it within a couple of years.
2 A small multifamily property: Buy a small multifamily property (two to four units), live in one unit, and rent the other units out.
5 BRRRR investing (aka fix and rent or fix and hold strategy): “It combines the equity growth and quick financing of house flipping with the long-term stability and wealth creation of rental properties… The property is treated like a flip, using short-term financing such as private money, hard money, a home equity loan, or cash to acquire and rehab. Then, after the property is finished, it is rented out to a tenant. The owner then obtains a refinance on the property to pay off the short-term loan and turn the property into a stable, long-term, cash flow positive property.”

CHAPTER 14 HOW TO GET A LOAN APPROVED, GUARANTEED
The banker you sit down with (sales guy) is not responsible for approving or denying your loan. The underwriter is. So, to get your loan approved:
1 Find the banker (sales guy) who is creative and who will fight to get your loan approved. Ask some real estate agents who their preferred lender is.
2 Make your loan application pencil out for the underwriter. Lenders want to approve good deals only.

What does the bank want to approve a loan?
1 Property type
2 Property location
3 Property condition
4 Loan amount
5 Debt-to-income ratio (DTI). Two types exist: Front-end DTI ratio and back-end DTI ratio.
6 Loan-to-value ratio (LTV)
7 Credit score
8 Repayment source
9 Experience
10 Cash reserves
11 Recent credit changes
12 Compensating factors

[Ibrahim Abouzied · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Lets go through all of the steps to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! First, go to the store and buy the ingredients. Many stores should have bread, peanut butter, and jelly, but if your store doesn't, just ask around! Many people who make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches will be happy to tell you where they purchase their favorite ingredients. Next, spread the peanut butter on one slice and the jelly (some call it jam, but I prefer jelly!) on the other slice. Many potential sandwich makers are afraid of cutting themselves, but there is no need to worry! You can use a butter knife, which isn't sharp enough to pierce the skin, and spreads very easily! Finally, put the two pieces together. Many people mess this up, but you're a SMART sandwich maker. You'll make sure to have the peanut butter and jelly on the interior of the sandwich, while others will be left with messy hands. Make sure to clean up your mess while its still small, trust me this will make things a lot easier (don't think 'I can't clean this mess!', think 'How can I clean this mess?'). Having a cleaning system will set you up for long term success. And just like that, you have yourself a sandwich! Pretty neat huh?"

If you didn't know how to make a PB&J sandwich, you do know. But at what cost?

I was really excited to read this book, especially given its high rating. Unfortunately it left me disappointed.

First the positive: The book does a great job of giving you a cursory view of the entire rental property investing process. As a person who did not know very much going into it, it provided insight into what the domain looks like so I can further explore topics on my own. It did not go very deep into the topics, but it gives you plenty to get started.

My biggest complaint with the book is the writing style. This book could easily be distilled into half its size. I often found myself skimming past paragraphs offering little more than the title heading. The tone of the writing felt like I was being babied through the process. Just tell me the information about real-estate investing that I need to know, and leave the inspiration, motivation, and positive thinking for me to do on my own.

I suspect that most positive reviews are from regular readers/viewers of BiggerPockets. This is probably reflective of great content elsewhere from BiggerPockets, but I don't think this book is it.

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read through a few real estate books but none have come anywhere near close to this one. This is my go to guide for Rental Property Investing. It is a comprehensive guide featuring in depth discussion and clear, concise (an honest rarity for this genre) examples on searching for properties, funding them, screening tenants, managing tenants, and everything in between.
I have learned so much from biggerpockets.com (they are the real estate authority in my opinion; the Facebook of Real Estate investing) and this book has enhanced my knowledge and growing expertise.
Another huge selling point is that Brandon is absolutely hilarious. It is very difficult to translate comedy into writing, but he has incredible comedic timing and is genuinely funny; his style of writing made learning about tax laws, technical terms, rehabbing, etc. so much fun. This is a book that I look forward to rereading again and again.

It seemed to focus primarily on multifamily residential properties on the smaller side (2-24 units), but a lot of it is still very applicable to larger properties, too.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to newbies interested in this RE niche. It would also serve as a spectacular checklist for people with more experience and likely provide a few tricks and strategies to implement or refine.

[Sophia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good info about being a landlord I guess but I don't like this guy's priorities or tone.

[A.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great investment for your real-estate journey. I give 5 stars!

This book highlights all the issues we face owning a rental property and surprisingly, I was able to match all the problems we ever faced owning a small multi-complex building with the ones mentioned in the book. 

We never knew these were fairly common in the real-estate world and luckily, the book also guides you through solving most of these issues. 

Additionally, this book is full of precious content including analyzing a rental property, process of financing one, house flipping, managing tenants and several other topics.

After reading the entire book I was equipped with the necessary tools to fix the system for our small multi-complex building.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author's tone and writing style are insufferable. That said, this book has a lot of great information for real estate novices. I learned a lot but it was a painful read.

[Maaike Hawkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

First real estate book read, after owning a rental property

Great book. Well worth the price. I think I have been lucky so far with my rental property, but will seriously reevaluate my lease with my tenants once up. Great direction for landlord securities and I will be joining the bigger pocket forums now and listening to the podcasts.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this book on Audible. It is read by the author who is very enthusiastic, but can be quite irritating at times. It is by far the worst job of audio editing I have encountered.
The book is quite basic, but does have some useful information. Get the hard copy if you choose to read it.

[Aladdin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for the beginner. Very encouraging.
Lot’s of references to the website.
Could be condensed to half the size without the fluff, but overall, has the potential to be very useful for those looking for a real way to step into real estate investing.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Audiobook review* I loved that this book was basic but in depth, perfect for beginners! The audiobook was great (Brandon was the perfect narrator) but I would like to get a hard copy in the future because there’s tons of lists, math, etc.

[Martin Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 50 pages of the book is really amarican. So just for motivation and contains hardly any info. The rest is loaded with good info about how to buy residences and how to manage them.

[Emma Whear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Often I'm frustrated by books in this line - seems like you wade through seven pages of garbage "You can do it if you try hard enough and send me $50" for each quality page.

This book was an exception to that trend.

Concise, well-organized, funny, satisfyingly specific, 🔥

[Greg Albrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book - packed with general real estate investment knowledge (not only rental related), that helped me adjust my real estate investment strategy.

After reading this book I decided NOT TO continue investing in rental real estate, because I realized certain hidden costs and mundane tasks that I do not want to deal with.

If you are not investing in the US (I'm EU-based), some chapters (especially financing) are not relevant, thus 4 stars.

[Nick A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I would have started with this book, it answered so many questions about the nuts and bolts of real estate investing. Most books I have read on the subject we're great as well, but none so far have gone as deep into the fundamentals of real estate investing. Couldn't recommend this book highly enough. Was able to get this book and the audio version off the BP website on a special promotion. Love these guys!

[Gavin Quigley · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘One of life’s most painful moments comes when we must admit that we didn’t do our homework, that we are not prepared’

Investing in real estate is something I have always wanted to do. I knew from an early age that I did not want to spend my life paying someone else’s mortgage in the form of rent, and was adamant that I could achieve more than simply finding a family home to settle down in and wait until retirement.

I am a competitive person by nature, but I get incredibly frustrated when I feel that I am underperforming, or underachieving. While eager to ‘get on the property ladder’, I am even more eager to do well once I become a real estate investor. Choosing this book is one of the greatest things I could have done on my journey to become a successful real estate investor.


This book will act as your comprehensive guide to approaching real estate investing, providing you with in-depth discussion and clear, concise examples on searching for properties, funding them, screening tenants, managing tenants, and everything in between.

For those of you like myself, with zero experience, looking to equip yourselves with the tools to get started, this book will give you everything you need. I already feel knowledgeable on the steps involved in becoming a successful real estate investor.

Chapter 1: Why I Love Rental Properties

I often swing between being really excited about an investment, to thinking it must be too good to be true, but at the end of the day, investing in anything will always be about two main things, value and cash flow. This chapter will help you get a clear understanding of what to look for in a potential property for it to be a good deal.

Chapter 2: The 5 Keys to Rental Property Success

Most people, myself included, initially look at real estate because they think it will be easy cash. Rent coming into the bank account each month without having to lift a finger, passive income, early retirement, etc. While this is true to a degree, it’s just not that easy, you need to plan your deals down to the finest detail for it to work.

This chapter will explain to you how your mindset will need to be before you attempt to purchase a property, and go through the integral parts of a successful plan.

Chapter 3: Four Sample Plans

Honestly, this was my favourite chapter of the book. The guides and the theory is all great, but it needs to be practical and relatable to real life situations. If you want to do well in real estate investing you better make sure you know at least basic accounting, and if you’re not good with numbers, you better get good, because every detail matters, and if you aren’t making the right projections, a good deal can turn into a terrible deal very quickly.

These plans give a vivid description of how to accurately project whether or not a deal can be successful.

Chapter 4: The 10 Members of Your Real Estate Team

You might think this real estate thing is dead easy and you can do it all yourself once the details make sense. No. Like any successful business, (and this will be a business), you need to hire the best possible employees in order to cash flow and achieve a solid bottom line.

I don’t mean actual staff, but you will need to surround yourself with people who understand the industry and can assist you in navigating through the process successfully.

Chapter 5: Analysing a Rental Property

The more I read through this book, the more I realised how little I actually knew about how to be a successful real estate investor, I knew nothing.

This chapter will go through, in immense detail, exactly how to analyse a potential property. It is not simply mortgage payments vs rental income, there are so many more details that a novice just wouldn’t even begin to think of.

Chapter 6: Investing While Living in an Expensive Area

This will be so relatable to many of you reading this. We all know how expensive it is living and especially renting in Dublin. This does NOT mean you need to head down the country to make an investment, you just need to execute intelligently in order to be successful.

Chapter 7: Types of Rental Properties

All real estate investments are not created equal. I used to think I was going to just save up €40 or €50k and get a nice 3 unit gaff in Rathmines or something, I’d cashflow €2k in rent and I would be good to go. The fact is, it’s just not that easy.

You need to understand and acknowledge that there are many different types of rental properties, and in order to plan effectively, know what you are going for.

Chapter 8: Location, Location Location!

Again, you might think you know exactly what you want, but are you 100000% sure? You better be. Before you commit to an investment in real estate, you NEED to know every detail about the location. Vacancy rates, average rent, crime rates, flood history, the list goes on, but the lesson remains the same, do your homework before you commit.

Chapter 9: How to Find Rental Properties

This is something I have honestly been neglecting, I thought it was the least of my concerns, but there is so much competition in this industry, particularly in Dublin due to the high rent, you need to think outside of the box here.

Ask yourself honestly, could you find 100 potential real estate investments per year? Where would you start? Because that is what will be required.

Chapter 10: Which Properties Make the Best Rentals?

This book is full of valuable information, phenomenal insight into what to look for and what NOT to look for when navigating this landscape. Like me, many of you are probably confident you have what it takes, driven and focused on being successful.

I found myself regularly taking deep breaths going through this book, grateful for the insight, as I have already avoided so many mistakes myself just from reading about all the potential red flags that I would never have thought of.

Chapter 11: Submitting Your Offer

Being a successful real estate investor is something I aspire to be, and I’m slowly realising that the only way to achieve this goal is to make as many offers as possible. There are specific details, clauses, and contingencies that go into making offers on real estate that never even crossed my mind.

This chapter will go through exactly what is required in making an offer, and how to improve your odds on being accepted.

Chapter 12: Real Estate Negotiation

Anyone who has ever read the book ‘In Business As in Life – You Don’t Get What You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate’, written by Chester Karrass, will already understand how important this part of the process is.

The discussions you have with your lawyer and the property owner can make or break your deal, and a great deal won’t be easy to find unless you’re willing to fight for it.

Chapter 13: Financing Your Real Estate Investment

Reckon you know what you’re doing on this end? I thought I did. I fancied my chances of AIB giving me a decent mortgage, and with my First Time Buyers Clause, I could get a 90% LTV rate and find a great deal in no time.

Yes, this is the plan for most of us, but it’s not the only way to finance a deal, and you could argue that there are much better ways.

Chapter 14: How to Get a Loan Approved, Guaranteed

You’ll find as you read this book that all is not as it seems, nothing is black and white, and no two deals are going to be the same. This chapter opened up my eyes to the fact that there are certain things that banks are looking for, and there are different ways to approach the loan application process.

Chapter 15: The Due Diligence Process

With no background in real estate investing and zero knowledge of property law, I found this chapter incredibly useful. There is a specific way of operating when you get to this stage of a deal, with many things to be wary of.

While I am nowhere near a deal being reached myself, after reading this book, I feel a lot more equipped on how to handle myself when I do arrive in this scenario.

Do not jump into the purchase of a property until you, and your lawyer, are satisfied that all is how it seems.

Chapter 16: Getting Ready to Close

This was another chapter that emphasised to me just how important it is to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s as a deal can really go up in flames at any stage of the process, and you’ll need to be prepared.

The closing of a real estate deal can be expensive, but there are handy ways of approaching the process, and the manner in which Brandon Turner goes through his personal anecdotes make it much much clearer to folk like myself who are very early in the research process.

Chapter 17: Managing Your Rentals – Part 1 & Chapter 18: Managing Your Rentals – Part 2

Oh, so you thought once you have the keys, that you’re done? Time to retire and go chill on the beach? This may be a bitter pill to swallow, but once you’ve actually closed the deal, that is really where all the hard work begins.

Even if you’ve managed to close a phenomenal deal on paper, you need to have your ducks in a row in order to make sure it’s a successful real estate investment.

Chapter 19: Exit Strategies and 1031 Tax Exchanges

I recently went through the process of asking every single person I knew about the equivalent of a 1031 Tax Exchange in Ireland. An Irish Solicitor by the name of Terry Gorry eventually got back to me with some useful information.

Terry is also a real estate investor and has a YouTube channel with some helpful videos.

This chapter will drilldown how important it is to educate yourself on real estate as a whole before committing, and fully understand the numbers in a deal before it’s too late.

The last thing you want is to make loads of cash on a property, only to lose your capital gains to the tax man.

Chapter 20: Final Thoughts

I would recommend dropping any ego you’ve got about investing before picking up this book. I thought I knew exactly what I was doing, and was completely humbled.

This is a book designed to assist you in avoiding mistakes, saving years of trial and error and equipping you to be a really successful real estate investor.

I plan to revisit this book again next year, as it has taught me many many lessons on the industry, and I plan to use it as my bible for real estate investing for the foreseeable future.

Check out Biggerpockets.com if you are interested in this industry, there is a great community of like minded individuals and useful anecdotes to further help you on your quest to becoming a successful real estate investor.
Interested in buying the book, I got it here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Book-o...

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provided excellent insight on what I imagine a landlord sees from their point of view in the world of real estate. The author does a terrific job in outlining rental property process in each chapter that covers a plethora of different facets of real estate. This includes making sure “the math works out” when analyzing a deal, numerous team members in the process (spouse, CPAs, attorneys, contractors, lenders, etc…) understanding the pros and cons of expensive and inexpensive areas, and how to actually manage the rentals with tenants.
I thought the author excelled in showing how thin or large the margins can be in the game of cash flow for real estate that are on par with the stock market. Ranging anywhere from 4-12%. Plus, how to allocate the cash flow for future expenses and future down payments on additional properties. The added benefit of real estate compared to the stock market is a tenant paying down the loan on the properties for a big payout 20-30 years down the line. All this being said, it requires tremendous amount of work and requires putting the knowledge to work. As Brandon Turned writes “without action, you are just another wantrapreneur.”
As my English teacher always used to tell me “show me, don’t tell me in your writing.” This quote has always stuck with me and it is the reason I gave this book only 4 stars instead of 5. In some sections of the book, I thought the author could’ve dived deeper into the topic or given examples of his personal experience when encountering certain situations with real estate investment. For some chapters I thought the writing was not as in depth as the others.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to invest in real estate one day. Whether that is to buy a home just for yourself or getting into the game of rental properties. It is imperative that you know where you are putting your money and the processes that go with purchasing a home.

[austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book several times, and I always learn something new. This book has no motive to sell you a guru's course - it's purely educational. I would highly recommend this and other books published by BiggerPockets.com for anyone interested in learning about investing in real estate. I've built my business mostly from information I've learned from this company.

[Tremayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great piece of rental property investment literature! I have learned so much from Brandon's wise insight into buying, managing, and selling rental properties. Brandon lays the fundamentals down and guides the reader through practically every variable a "wannabe" real estate investor may face. I am more than excited to start my real estate journey armed with the knowledge in this book. As this book quotes from Michael Jordan, "some people want it to happen. Some wish it would happen. Others make it happen." If you read this book, we have to be the ones to MAKE it happen!

[Charity (Booktrovert Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed how in depth this book gets into real estate investing. Brandon Turner shares his personal experience on how to be successful and how to avoid some of the pitfalls as well. If you are starting researching into to real estate investing, this book is a great starting point for anyone looking to get into this type of investing.

[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like a book that bends more to the practical rather than the get-rich-quick. This is practical and I'll be keeping it on my reference shelf for future reference.

[Mark Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time reading a book on this topic. Really helpful and comprehensive introduction to the subject (as best as I can tell)... sometimes a little too much detail of specific numbers and examples but perhaps that would be helpful to look back at. Definitely a great resource to go back to in the future.

[Benjamin Hola · Rating 5 out of 5]

See this guys review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Peter Schmeltzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was actually helpful. I would consider getting paperback for future reference.

[Eric Thim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A a really good book that helped me realize I don’t want to own a rental property right now.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

informative!

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers a variety of topics well. It introduces the concept of real estate investing in a fairly understandable manner

[Desiree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trying to get into rental properties and this book was AMAZING! It literally takes you from the beginning and gives you ACTIONABLE tips instead of just talking about concepts. I'm definitely going to be rereading this book because it has such valuable information! I'm definitely going to be reading Brandon Turner's other books!

[Emily Rosén · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to investing, but also really helpful for moderately experienced investors. My copy is heavily dog eared and will be referenced regularly. Love it!

[Timeo Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book

Packed with info for the future real estate investor - with a focus on buy and hold real estate rentals. Great width with decent depth

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I really liked the book it was very basic and for someone who has no knowledge of real estate investing especially in rental properties. There are some good extras that I picked up but for the most part its very basic. That being said I like Brandon Turner and enjoy his style of writing and talking. His podcasts are great and he gives the impression of a great person.