The Best Books and Podcasts for Real Estate Investors in 2025

After analyzing conversations from 100+ active real estate investors (REIs) on Reddit and BiggerPockets, we found that the following real estate investing resources were the ones most REIs credited for their success.

If you’re a beginner real estate investor, then you understand the problem: the sheer volume of real estate books, podcasts, and courses on real estate investing creates decision fatigue and “analysis paralysis” that makes it difficult to know where to start.

Tired of getting stuck in a cycle of endless “guru” content and theoretical fluff? You’re in the right place.

Today, we’ll help you cut through the noise. We’ll share the 5 must-read books and top 4 podcasts that could help get you from learning about real estate investing to actually earning.

Best real estate books for building wealth

Based on actual real estate investor conversations, we’ve selected the following essential reads to guide you, whether you’re a beginner REI seeking foundational real estate education to secure your first deal or an intermediate real estate investor looking for proven strategies to help you scale your portfolio.

1. "The Book on Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner

Best for: Complete beginners seeking a clear, step-by-step process.

This book is a practical, action-oriented guide for beginner real estate investors overwhelmed by abstract theories. It can provide you with a detailed roadmap that covers every stage of real estate investing: finding deals, analyzing properties, securing financing, and managing tenants.

With a 4.7-star rating on Amazon, it is endorsed by thousands of real estate investors as the definitive guide to building a solid rental portfolio from scratch.

The book teaches specific analysis frameworks like the “1% rule” for quickly evaluating properties, helping REIs transition from reading about real estate investing to actually making offers. It is regarded as one of the best real estate books for beginners.

Key insights: Turner's "1% rule" and cash flow analysis methods (cash flow per door, cash on cash ROI)

2. "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki

Best for: Beginners needing a fundamental mindset shift about money and assets.

This book should probably be the starting point on your real estate learning journey, meant to be read before the practical “how-to guides.” Many real estate investors credit “Rich Dad Poor Dad” with moving them from employee thinking to an investor mindset. One Boston-based real estate agent said it gave her confidence to leave her 9-to-5 and start building wealth through real estate.

With over 32 million copies sold, this is one of the most-read real estate books because it provides the “why” for new REIs.

The book’s premise is that the first step to building wealth is a deep, mental shift from simply working for money to having your money work for you. Kiyosaki breaks down the concept of assets and liabilities using a simple framework: an asset puts money in your pocket, while a liability takes money out.

This book could help reframe your entire perspective on wealth and assets, with the core mindset shift REIs need to successfully apply the technical real estate strategies in the other real estate books.

Key insights: The rich acquire assets, not liabilities. A controversial take from the book is that “your house is not an asset.” “Rich Dad Poor Dad” also touches on the importance of cash flow.

3. "The Millionaire Real Estate Investor" by Gary Keller

Best for: Intermediate investors ready to scale beyond their first few investment properties.

According to “The Millionaire Real Estate Investor”, you should stop doing everything yourself if you want to scale your real estate portfolio. This book offers the playbook to graduate from a small-time real estate investor to a professional one. It shows you how to build an expert team that could allow you to grow beyond what you can do alone.

Based on interviews with over 100 millionaire real estate investors, this book outlines the strategies and mindsets of millionaire real estate investors. With a 4.7-star rating from thousands of investors on Amazon, this should be part of your reading list if you want to move beyond owning a couple properties to building a scalable real estate investing business.

In the book, Keller offers systems and strategies for finding high-quality deals, and building the expert team required to manage a million-dollar portfolio. Essentially, this book offers insights on how to scale your portfolio confidently.

Key insights: The book teaches you how to build the right team for real estate investing.

4. "Every Landlord's Legal Guide" by Marcia Stewart

Best for: New landlords who want to avoid costly legal mistakes.

Legal mistakes could cost you thousands. Marcia Stewart’s “Every Landlord’s Legal Guide,” now in its 17th edition, provides the specific, up-to-date legal knowledge and tools to protect yourself as a new landlord. With forms and legal guidance for landlords across all 50 states, this book is a must-have for landlords.

It covers essential tenant laws, eviction processes, and property management legalities specific to each state.

The book emphasizes having proper lease agreements and meticulous documentation to avoid costly disputes and lawsuits. The actionable tips presented in this book could help you protect your investment and your peace of mind as a landlord.

Key insights: The book offers access to 30 downloadable forms for different aspects of the landlord process, from screening tenants and writing leases to handling security deposits and evictions.

5. "Real Estate by the Numbers" by J Scott and Dave Meyer

Best for: Intermediate investors looking to scale systematically.

This book will teach you how to analyze markets like a professional, using real data to identify profitable areas and properties. It will equip you with the specific analysis frameworks you need to move beyond guesswork and scale your real estate investing portfolio systematically.

What makes “Real Estate by the Numbers” uniquely credible is its author, Dave Meyer, the Vice President of Data and Analytics at BiggerPockets and current host of the BiggerPockets podcast.

In this book, he and J Scott give you structured processes for analyzing key market indicators like job growth and population trends to identify profitable locations.

Key insights: Different metrics serve different purposes in real estate investing. The book clearly explains key metrics like ROI; IRR (Internal Rate of Return); cash-on-cash return; equity multiple; AAR (Average Annual Return); Cap Rate, when to use these metrics, and the importance of using multiple metrics to assess properties.

Best real estate podcasts for investors

While real estate books are great for building foundational knowledge, podcasts can provide the real-time, story-driven motivation that books can’t.

When you hear the unfiltered experiences of successful real estate investors—their wins, losses, and current strategies, that may be the push you need to finally take action.

With that said, here’s our list of the four best podcasts for real estate investors.

1. BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

Best for: All investors, from total beginners to seasoned pros.

With a 4.8-star rating from over 16,000 reviews on Apple Podcasts, this is one of the industry’s leading podcasts. If you’re just starting out and could listen to only one podcast, this should be it.

Each week, you will hear real stories from successful REIs that will help make your own real estate investing journey feel possible. These investors don’t just tell stories, they share the real numbers and strategies behind their portfolios.

From the sheer volume of stories, you’ll see that there is no single ”right” way to invest. This knowledge alone should help you overcome the fear of starting.

Listening strategy: Start with the first 100 episodes (as recommended by the BiggerPockets community).

2. The Real Estate Guys Radio Show

Best for: Intermediate investors looking to understand market cycles and macroeconomics.

The “Real Estate Guys Radio Show” could help you see the bigger economic picture behind property price movements and housing demand. On the podcast, host Robert Helms and his guests provide weekly no-hype information on real estate economics, tax strategies, and different real estate sectors.

You’ll learn how things like interest rates, inflation, and market cycles influence property values. This kind of knowledge could help you navigate market uncertainty and make strategic buy/hold/sell decisions.

Listening strategy: Listen to an episode every week to stay up-to-date on economic trends impacting the real estate industry.

3. 7-Figure Flipping with Bill Allen

Best for: Beginner rehab investors, flippers, and wholesalers.

This podcast is for anyone who is serious about turning house flipping into a scalable business. With a 4.8-star rating on Apple Podcasts, it offers to show you the specific systems and real-world strategies that professional house flippers and wholesalers use.

Host Bill Allen interviews top operators every week so you can learn the exact tactics they use for finding deals, managing rehabs, and selling for profit. Guests also reveal the costly mistakes they made along the way, revealing insights that could save you time and money.

Listening strategy: Listen to an episode every week.

4. Real Estate Rookie Podcast

Best for: Complete beginners who need confidence and basic strategies.

With a 4.7-star rating on Apple Podcasts, the “Real Estate Rookie” podcast is specifically created for new real estate investors. As a spin-off from BiggerPockets, it allows you to learn from people who have recently started real estate investing, so you can build the confidence to take your own first steps.

Instead of interviewing real estate millionaires and experts, the hosts talk to people who have just successfully closed their first few deals. This makes their stories and strategies incredibly relatable and ground-level.

From overcoming common fears and mental roadblocks to making your first offer, this podcast seems built to give you a clear step-by-step path to finally getting started.