Must Read Real Estate Books

Hey ladies,

I think we should get a reading list going since we finally have our own forum. I'm always looking for great RE books.

Commercial Real Estate finance books

Here's a list of books for getting started in real estate. the thread below also contains more suggestions from our certified users.
from certified real estate user @nelobynature"

Good starter books

  • The Real Estate Game: The Intelligent Guide To Decisionmaking And Investment
  • Investing in Apartment Buildings: Create a Reliable Stream of Income and Build Long-Term Wealth

Good textbooks

  • Linneman Associates: Real Estate Finance and Investments

Currently reading (good so far)

  • Skin in the Game: The Past, Present, and Future of Real Estate Investments in America

On my to read list

  • Intent to Prosper: DUE DILIGENCE AND COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

  • Recommended Reading

    138 Comments
     

    I just picked up "The Real Estate Game" by William Poorvu based on recommendations from other sites. Would love to hear about others people have read and recommend.

     
    MBAREALESTATEI just picked up "The Real Estate Game" by William Poorvu based on recommendations from other sites. Would love to hear about others people have read and recommend.
    Second this one.
     

    I love this book. Gives a comprehensive view of real estate as an asset class from some basic urban economics to investment analysis. Worth reading if you've already taken a basic corporate finance or finance course. It's a bit academic, but worth the read. Worth it if you want a career as an professional investor in the asset class.

    Commercial Real Estate Analysis and Investments. David M. Geltner (Author), Norman G. Miller (Author) http://www.amazon.com/Commercial-Real-Estate-Analysis-Investments/dp/03…

     

    [quote=Relinquis]I love this book. Gives a comprehensive view of real estate as an asset class from some basic urban economics to investment analysis. Worth reading if you've already taken a basic corporate finance or finance course. It's a bit academic, but worth the read. Worth it if you want a career as an professional investor in the asset class.

    Commercial Real Estate Analysis and Investments. David M. Geltner (Author), Norman G. Miller (Author) http://www.amazon.com/Commercial-Real-Estate-Analysis-Investments/dp/03…]

    Second this, Geltner's book is my favorite. Its great if you are working professional in real estate with a strong understanding of finance; not so great for RE noobs.

    I would recommend this one for RE noobs as an intro to RE finance- Real Estate Finance & Investments, William Brueggeman (Author), Jeffrey Fisher (Author) http://www.amazon.com/Real-Estate-Finance-Investments/dp/0073377333

    Man made money, money never made the man
     
     

    yea that's a good one. the guy likes to talk about himself too much almost infomercial bad, but he really does have some solid experience where he talks about putting together complicated/far stretch deals.

    definitely worth the read. worst case you're out $15 bucks and a few hours. but i liked it and still have it on my shelf

     

    In the last two weeks I have read the following:

    1) http://www.amazon.com/Estate-Investor-Flow-Financial-Measures/dp/007142…

    **Recommend**: I thought the book provided a great overview for investing in real estate and the key financial jargon that you will need to know. I knew most of what was in the book already, but it was nice to get a refresher and some of his personal advice.

    2) http://www.amazon.com/Intent-Prosper-DILIGENCE-COMMERCIAL-ESTATE/dp/143…

    This book was okay. I thought it was too general for my tastes. He had some interesting advice from his many years in the business, but nothing that really stuck with me.

    I am working my way down the recommendations on this page. I look forward to going through the textbook above, as I like less self help and more detail.

     

    Can someone recommend books for interview?

    Man it took me 4 months to finish Real Estate Finance & Investments, Brueggeman & Fisher. Great but not an efficient way to spend my time.

    The Auto Show
     

    Nice thread. Which book would you recommend to buy for a total noob in the RE industry ? In order to learn who are the big players and how all the different players interact (AM, brokerage, REPE,...) plus some informations on how to value a property/any RE asset.

     
    TheSqualeNice thread. Which book would you recommend to buy for a total noob in the RE industry ? In order to learn who are the big players and how all the different players interact (AM, brokerage, REPE,...) plus some informations on how to value a property/any RE asset.

    For industry/players insight probably a Valut/Wetfeeet guide to the Real Estate Industry

    valuations = one of the many RE Finance books mentioned throughout this thread

     

    Aside from the Intent to Prosper: Due Diligence and Commercial Real Estate suggestion, are there any recommendations for due diligence on commercial properties (ex. +20 units)?

     

    Hallo every one. Guys, you mentions very nice link for real estate knowledge These books are very helpful for newbie of real estate sector. So thanks for share this information with us...

    All is well
     
    sambhabanaroy

    Yes that's cool to read books but what matters in real estate is not book reading but the experience. If you have good real estate practical experience you will become a good real estate agent rather than simply reading books.

     

    The base level of required knowledge for a real estate agent aka sales guy, is far less than the fundamental skill set for an investors or developer. It's better to learn a concept in a book than learn it in a deal when you have capital risk.

     

    Three recommendations:

    Commercial Real Estate Restructuring Revolution: Strategies, Tranche Warfare, and Prospects for Recovery by Stephen Meister - content is true to the title

    Other People's Money by Charles Bagli - if you can stomach the book's anti-big-money-real-estate undertones, this is a great read for a deal nerd interested in Stuy town, how Tishman won the deal and how its strategy subsequently unraveled

    Chapter 21, Office Party (p. 239), in King of Capital is a personal favorite - all about Blackstone/EOP

     
    Blue Star

    Three recommendations:

    Commercial Real Estate Restructuring Revolution: Strategies, Tranche Warfare, and Prospects for Recovery by Stephen Meister - content is true to the title

    Other People's Money by Charles Bagli - if you can stomach the book's anti-big-money-real-estate undertones, this is a great read for a deal nerd interested in Stuy town, how Tishman won the deal and how its strategy subsequently unraveled

    Chapter 21, Office Party (p. 239), in King of Capital is a personal favorite - all about Blackstone/EOP

    Yep. Finished "Other People's Money" about a month ago. Extremely interesting.

    Currently reading "Triumph Of the City". It's about urban economics and how the city is man's greatest invention.

     

    I didn't go through the whole list of posts.

    Way back when I was starting out, I read Linneman's book and did all the case studies. Everyone recommended Poorvu's book but I thought it kind of sucked -- very old school.

    Please don't quote Patrick Bateman.
     

    "Flip- How to find, fix, and sell houses for profit" is a good read for anyone interested in acquiring properties rehabbing them and selling them.

    Has a lot of deal examples and really breaks down some of the things people initially overlook like holding costs and financing costs. Helpful construction budgets as well.

    http://www.amazon.com/FLIP-Find-Sell-Houses-Profit/dp/0071486100/ref=sr…

     

    http://www.Amazon.com/Real-Estate-Finance-Investments-Opportunities/dp/0974451835

    I'm currently reading it. Also has some pre-req sections in the back going over NPV, IRR, loan amortizations, and even ARGUS- depending on how much you already know. Concise too, could prob polish it off in a work week w/out the pre-reqs.

    GBS
     

    I can't post links but theres a topic called ''Must Read Real Estate textbooks'' or something like it on here somewhere. Lot of good recommendations in it.

     

    'The Income Approach to Property Valuation' by Andrew Baum, Nick Nunnington, David Mackmin is a good option. Its used as the core text in the investment valuation portion of my Real Estate undergraduate course. Unsure how much excel content is in it, however. It mentions some other methods of valuation such as comps/profits/residual also.

    Hope this helps

     
    "talkaboutit"

    Real Estate Finance & Investments by Bruggeman and Real Estate Finance & Investments: Risks and Opportunities by Linneman are considered the go-to books. Not solely focused on valuation and modeling but very thoroughly cover most real estate topics.

    I've read parts of the former but I'm not really sure that it's what you're looking for. Still worth a read.

    Bitch please, I love bananas! If you found my advice useful, hit me up with one.
     

    Finance & Investments: Risks and Opportunities by Linneman is my favorite CRE book. It is a text books that reads like a book and still goes into the granular details you need. That being said I would like to get through Real Estate Finance & Investments by Bruggeman as I have heard great thing however it definitely reads more like a text book and is a book to bring to the beach.

     

    How to Build a Real Estate Empire by George Marcus. Haha. I think it was cheap to buy. Some good nuggets of wisdom. I read Linneman.

    Have compassion as well as ambition and you’ll go far in life. I am interested in digital immortality. Check out my blog at digitalimmortality.com
     
    "jstamp02"

    I've compiled a list of real estate, investing, and business books which have framed the way I think about my real estate career. You can check them out on my blog A Student of the Real Estate Game / Read

    My man can't post links yet, but you should definitely check out his site if you're considering real estate

    http://astudentoftherealestategame.com/read

    Commercial Real Estate Developer
     

    You can learn the basic math with Linneman or the Geltner & Miller books. Unless you're on the ground in the city, broker reports are the closest thing you'll find to know what's happening with supply and demand. The 2-3 large brokerage shops issue decent quarterly reports on every major metro and give updates by asset class.

     

    I read the Art of the Deal (Donald Trump) when I was in high school. I think it perked my interest from an early age. If anything you learn about the windfalls and the perils of our industry. I want to own a casino also.

    Have compassion as well as ambition and you’ll go far in life. I am interested in digital immortality. Check out my blog at digitalimmortality.com
     

    www.realestatechannel.com

    PREQUIN

    WSJ RE

    CBRE has reports

    KNF has reports

    Look into Commercial Mortgage Alert also

    Linneman has a text book that is amazing

    UTA has a RE club where you can download models and stuff from

    Know the difference between Class A,B,C

    Know Cap rate, net absorption

    Know price per square foot in certain markets

    Look at the different RE areas (Land, Multifamily, Industrial, etc)

     

    Not sure what kind of news you are looking for but -

    perenews.com - RE PE news, can only read the headlines for the most part unless you have a membership. Although you can read articles under the most read section.

    WSJ Real Estate, Commercial Section

    Bisnow has a real estate section which tracks local real estate deals and happenings in NY and DC.

    NY Times Real Estate Section

     

    Great! These are some good list so far!

    What about some books that are not necessarily textbooks but are about the real estate business, something like Monkey business for IB.

    Thanks a lot so far.

    Do what you want not what you can!
     

    I think this website would benefit from having a dedicated real estate forum.

    --- man made the money, money never made the man
     

    So I can't post links since I'm new. But if you google Wall Street Journal commercial real estate, the first link should be their CRE page.

    Forgot what day it is (I wanna' say Wednesday), but every week WSJ has about 2-4 pages dedicated to CRE.

     

    Just bought a version of "real estate finance & investments" from bruegemann to prepare myself for my internship.

    ooof marone !
     

    The information shared in this topic is really useful for real estate investing. I have also noticed that investing in real estate business is getting very popular these days and is getting more popular compared to any kind of business.

     

    The main courses/materials are:

    1. Joshua Khar - the first to bring these classes to the market, filling a needed industry void. See his free courses on RE Finance on ITunes. His books are beneficial too.

    2. REFM - Excellent program from a wharton trained industry veteran with a acumen for teaching. Try his free models before delving into the actual for-pay products.

    3. BIWS RE program - also has a good reputation and appears thorough (but not a one stop shop for everything you need). Might be duplicative after doing all of Khar and REFM.

    4. William Poorvu - "The Real Estate Game"; and definitely (this long forgotten tome of Real Estate Wisdom and should be required reading for us all to fill in all the blanks in our education, while using the hbs case study approach) "Real Estate Challenge: Capitalizing on Change". The only negative with Poorvu's books is that he drops the H-Bomb in some form on almost every 5th page and can get a little annoying.

    ++++IMPORTANT QUESTION+++++: Is there any way we can start a thread or depository for member approved, institution level quality underwriting excel models?

     
    Julian.Bostone

    4. William Poorvu - "The Real Estate Game"

    Yes.
    When a plumber from Hoboken tells you he has a good feeling about a reverse iron condor spread on the Japanese Yen, you really have no choice. If you don’t do it to him, somebody else surely will. -Eddie B.
     

    I took the REFM program with Bruce at a local university, great guy and good teacher. If you end up not using his programs at least check out his website, there're some very useful free materials on it

     

    The best thing you can do is NETWORK. It sounds like you have a strong finance and modeling background so I expect you will get up the real estate modeling curve very quickly. I would suggest joining ULI if your city has a chapter and just start reaching out to real estate professionals. Schedule lunches or coffee chats. This will probably do more for you than chasing some certificate. Best of luck.

     

    There are different levels of these books to investors. It can check with your local bookstore, browse real estate investment. You need to buy various methods of investment, including the veterans entered, sales of distress, no money trafficking.You should consider joining a local real estate investment group in the books.

     
    [Comment removed by mod team]
     

    Bumping this since it's a couple years old by now.

    Are there any real estate books that have come out in the last year or two that you recommend?

    Commercial Real Estate Developer
     

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    New Orleans Property Investor https://homebuyerlouisiana.com
     

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