Real Estate

You know what they say about those who read?

They lead.

In one of my previous articles, “The 21 Best Real Estate Books for Investors,” I talked about all my favorite real estate books and the impact they have had on my life. However, I believe a great real estate investor should read just as many business books as real estate books — if not more.

So this year I made a concentrated effort to read more business books to help me improve my investing and business life.

The following are the five books that made the biggest impact in my life in 2014, and I hope they will make a dramatic impact on your life in 2015. Please let me know in the comments below this post your thoughts on these books and any other book recommendations you think I should check out! I’m always looking for a new book.

The 5 Business Books That Changed My Life in 2014

(click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

What did you learn about real estate investing in 2014?

If you are anything like me: a lot.

Most of that learning has been from the BiggerPockets Podcast and the BiggerPockets Blog. Each week, more than 30 volunteer writers contribute articles to help others in the BiggerPockets community grow their real estate businesses.

I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t learn something from these amazing people.

Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to sift through our “Analytics” on the back-end of BiggerPockets and see what the most popular posts for each month were. Below you’ll find the top 8 or 9 posts from each month, based on number of unique views in 2014.

Obviously, there were hundreds of incredible posts that didn’t make this list simply because the headlines were not quite as “catchy” or there was an over-abundance of incredible posts out all at the same time, so I want to take just a moment and thank every one of the volunteers who donated their time this year to help improve the BiggerPockets community.

Lastly, I wanted to give a shout out to my buddy Dave, who helped me put this list together and organize it. Thanks Dave!

Related: 25 Smart Tips for Real Estate Investing Success (From BiggerPockets Members!)

And with that, I give you:

The 100 Most Popular Real Estate Investing Blog Posts from 2014

(Click to read on BiggerPockets…)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

What would YOU do with an extra $1,000 a month in your bank account?

Around BiggerPockets, you’ll hear a lot of stories of “big success.” Someone just flipped a house and made $100,000. Someone just bought a 300-unit apartment building. Someone just crossed the threshold of a million dollars in net worth.

These are awesome and inspiring stories, but if you are a newer investor, these goals might seem unattainable.

Today I want to share some strategies for making money investing in real estate, but rather than explore the best ways to make millions in real estate, I want to explore some ways to simply make $1,000.

As I go through this post, keep that first question I asked earlier in your mind: what would YOU do with an extra $1,000 a month in income? Also understand that none of this is “quick” or “easy.” This will take some work. But if an extra $1,000 would change your life, then keep reading.

And if you have family or friends who would benefit from earning an extra $1,000 a month, do me (and them) a favor and share this on your Facebook wall!

With that, let’s get to it.

(Note: below I give a lot of “numbers” and example deals. Understand that every real estate market is different, and you might think these numbers are absurdly high or absurdly low, depending on where you live. Try not to focus on the number as much as the principle behind the number.)

(click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

I love multifamily investments.

Ever since that notorious “Kurt Cobain” duplex that I accidentally bought, I’ve been hooked.

Now, I know there is a lot of debate on BiggerPockets about Single Family vs. Multifamily, and I’m not going to say that a person cannot be successful with single-family, but for me and my house, multifamily is the clear winner.

Here’s why.

6 Reasons to LOVE Multifamily Investments Over Single Family Homes

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(Click to read on BiggerPockets…)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

How much time do you spend checking your Facebook each day?

What about email?

Watching TV? Movies?

Hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock?

I’m not judging — these are all important parts of living, and I don’t plan to change them at all. I do recognize that all those little distractions tend to add up and before I know it, my day is gone.

In 2015, I am committed to taking my real estate business further than I ever have before, and for me (and hopefully YOU), a large part of that can be done on BiggerPockets. This blog post is not just about BiggerPockets and growing our businesses. It’s about YOU. Nothing in this list requires a Pro membership, and it’s all 100% free to do — so you have no excuse for not rocketing your business forward every single day.

Related: The Ultimate Practice to Improve All Facets of Your Real Estate Business in 2015

By spending just 8 minutes per day on BiggerPockets, you’ll be able to learn more, connect more, and grow further and faster than you ever imagined possible.

Here are 3 different ways you can improve your business — each one takes less than 8 minutes.

3 Simple (and Free) Ways to Improve Your Real Estate Investing in Just 8 Minutes a Day

(Click to read on BiggerPockets…)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.