Real Estate Wisdom: Books That Shaped My Journey - (Article request by Ben)

Imagine if your life were exactly the same as it is right now, but you no longer had a rent payment to make every month.

Imagine what freedom that would give you.

That is my dream for all of my students: for you to own your home outright.

But to realize that dream, we can’t just trust our real estate agent or broker. We have to understand why we are making the decisions we do, and to do that, we have to study!

Most of my study of real estate happened in the early 2000's, before the Great Recession hit.

Back then, I owned four properties: a five-bedroom house in California, and three condos in Orlando, all within ten minutes of the airport.

(For the record, I didn't come from money, I came from nothing, high school walkout, broken home, no prospects at all. But I earned the money to buy these houses by working as a juggler, and by having a deep understanding of real estate)

What happened next is a story for another day, let’s just say I, like countless others, got eaten up in the 2008 real estate crash. A crash now known as the most significant economic downturn in the U.S. since the Great Depression.

But I don't call it a crash, I call it my $750,000 education, because that's what it cost me.

But an education is exactly what it was, and this is what I learned.

Coming out the other side, I developed my “Grow Slow Philosophy.”

A big dream, grow slow, philosophy for living a "Good Life."

It's something I talk about a lot, and for those who have worked with me in person, you're already familiar with it.

But for anyone who hasn't heard, I read over thirty real estate books during that decade, and some have stuck with me more than others. Here are the ones I think are still relevant today, and ones I’d hand to any student looking to really understand real estate. All, great tools in the pursuit of this, "Good Life."

Mindset First

The Millionaire Next Door — Thomas J. Stanley & William D. Danko

The Millionaire Real Estate Investor — Gary Keller

These books hammer home the mindset: wealth in real estate isn’t about luck. It’s about discipline, systems, and patience. You can dream big, but the reality is built with one, smart, deliberate, decision, after another.

Know the Game

Rich Dad series — Robert Kiyosaki

I read a handful of these, from the original Rich Dad, Poor Dad to Sales Dogs and his real estate-focused titles. What stuck: treat properties like businesses. Know your numbers. Understand taxes and cash flow. Kiyosaki’s work changed the way I thought about real estate from a transactional tool to a long-term vehicle for financial independence.

Small Properties, Big Lessons

Investing in Duplexes, Triplexes, & Quads — Larry Loftis

ABCs of Real Estate Investing — Ken McElroy

Buying a 2–4 unit property, living in one unit, and renting the rest is called house-hacking. It teaches management, gives you cash flow, and reduces living expenses. These books were practical, hands-on guides for starting small, learning fast, and scaling responsibly.

Flipping & Renovations

Find It, Fix It, Flip It! — Michael Corbett

This is the book that really opened my eyes to buying beat-up properties, rehabbing them, and selling them for profit. It’s a process-oriented approach. You get to see the numbers, the timelines, and the pitfalls. Flipping is exciting but risky, so treat it like a learning platform, not a gamble.

Here’s what I love about the slow-flip model: If I invest in Coca-Cola stock, no amount of drinking or buying Coke is going to move the needle on my investment. But with a house, I can go to the store, buy materials, bring them home, and make renovations that add tens of thousands of dollars in value. It takes effort, skill, and a lot of know-how, but it also puts me in control of my own destiny. Anything that gives me that kind of control is deeply appealing. I don’t like sitting on the sidelines wondering what’s happening; I want to be elbows-deep in my own journey, shaping it with my own hands.

Creative Financing (Modern Update)

Back then I learned a lot from Nothing Down for the 2000s by Robert G. Allen. Today, a modern equivalent would be something like:

The Book on Investing In Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down — Brandon Turner (BiggerPockets, 2014)

This updated guide covers seller financing, partnerships, and low-capital strategies for today’s market. Creative financing is a tool, know it, test it, and don’t over-leverage yourself.

Homework: Study and understand amortization tables, and learn about the 13 payment rule.

In-N-Out Burger: A Model for Slow, Strong Growth

One book that profoundly influenced my philosophy is In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules, by Stacy Perman. This book delves into the company’s commitment to quality, simplicity, and ethical business practices. In-N-Out’s founders, Harry and Esther Snyder, established a business model that prioritized fresh ingredients, exceptional service, and a debt-free expansion strategy. They envisioned a world where employees could start in high school and build a career leading to retirement, a vision realized through the establishment of In-N-Out University.

The company’s insistence on never freezing meat and ensuring daily deliveries of fresh supplies reflects a dedication to quality that has become synonymous with the brand. Their approach to growth, measured, deliberate, and rooted in strong values, mirrors the “Grow Slow Philosophy” I advocate in real estate investing.

Incorporating these principles into our own endeavors can lead to sustainable success. By focusing on quality, maintaining ethical standards, and growing at a manageable pace, we can build a solid foundation for long-term prosperity.

Takeaways

School can have a hidden side effect: it often teaches us that learning is tedious, boring, and joyless. More than once, when I’ve talked about books with people, they’ve said something like, “Oh God, I haven’t read a book since I graduated from college.” That’s one of the saddest things imaginable. If you are a reader, there is literally nothing in the world beyond your reach. There is nothing you can’t learn. Books are the education you choose, the education you give yourself, the toolbox you equip to build the life you want.

So, if you hear nothing else I say, hear this, cultivate a love of learning. Cultivate curiosity and a hunger to expand your knowledge on every topic. And if personal freedom and financial independence matter to you, focus on real estate. More wealth has been created in real estate than any other field. As experts like to say, they aren’t making any more of it. Decade after decade, theres been no surer way to build wealth. The strategies, the stories, and the principles, they don’t expire. Real estate knowledge has a long shelf life.

So read the books. Highlight. Take notes. Apply the lessons. And most importantly, aim to own your home outright.

Imagine the freedom that would bring, and let that be your north star.

I have more to say about this, and I surely will (I said it before Noah could), but I'll spare you for now.

More soon,

Bill