EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

These books on negotiation helped me develop a negotiation strategy that fits my skill set and my goals.

Dawson, Rodger. Secrets of Power Negotiating: Inside Secrets from a Master Negotiator (Weiser, 3rd Edition, 2010).

Green, Robert, and 50 Cent. The 50th Law (Profile Books, 2013).

Voss, Christopher, with Tahl Raz. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It (Harper Business, 2016).

Helm, Mark. Creating Wealth Through Self-Storage: The Everyman’s Guide to Self-Storage Success (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015).
—This book gives a higher-level view on acquisition and development, and provides an industry-standard plan for investing with the goal of selling to a REIT.

Hill, Napoleon. Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century (TarcherPerigee, revised edition, 2005).
—The chapter 2 exercise helped me articulate what my burning desire was, and the paragraph I wrote when I did that exercise still motivates me today.

Kiyosaki, Robert. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! (Plata Publishing, 2nd edition, 2017).
—This is about the fundamentals of financial intelligence—understanding the core principles around financial statements.

Kiyosaki, Robert. Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! (Plata Publishing, reprint edition, 2012).
—This book describes the psychological principles and the thought processes you follow for making decisions and building your investment strategy.

Lantrip, Michael. Real Estate Investing Vocabulary of Terms: The Language of the Deal (Anderson Logan LLC, 2020).
—It’s so important to fully understand the concepts and terminology used in the CRE industry, and a clear understanding of the terms will save you from making mistakes and give you confidence. This book helped me get there.

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Goodin, Marc. Your Self Storage, Planning – Site Selection – Design – Build: 150 Tips and Ideas to Save You Time and Money! (Independently Published, 2019).
—The author’s civil engineering background contributed to the checklists that you may not otherwise know to focus on when evaluating a site for development of a storage facility.

Osborne, A.J. The Investors Guide to Growing Wealth in Self Storage: The Step-by-Step Playbook for Turning a Real Estate Asset Into a Thriving Self Storage Business (Aloha Publishing, 2020).
—This book helped me view storage properties as retail-oriented, customer service-based businesses rather than real estate assets, and this is what it takes to successfully manage a self-storage facility.

Randall, James A. Confessions of a Real Estate Entrepreneur: What It Takes to Win in High-Stakes Commercial Real Estate (McGraw Hill, 2006).
—In this book, Professor Randall touches on advanced concepts in evaluating and structuring deals and advanced contract negotiations.

Rappaport, Gary. Investing in Retail Properties: A Guide to Structuring Partnerships for Sharing Capital Appreciation and Cash Flow (International Council of Shopping Centers, 2010).
—This is an excellent book on creating commercial real estate partnerships, and it clearly explains the mechanics of the GP/LP structure in real estate partnerships.

Rolfe, Frank, and Dave Reynolds. Mobile Home Park 10/20 Investment System: The ONLY Proven Way to Make Big Money in Mobile Home Parks (David Reynolds, 2007).
—This book is where you need to start to learn MHP investing, and it highlights the most important concepts.

Sidoti, Esq., Jillian. The Crowdfunding Myth: How to Legally and Effectively Raise Money for Your Business (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016).
—This is a high level primer on the securities laws you need to understand if you want to raise funds from investors and offer returns on those invested funds.

Sutton, Garret. Loopholes of Real Estate: Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investing (RDA Press, LLC, 2013).
—Use this book to help you understand the tax advantages of real estate investing.

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Moffit, Timothy, and Michelle Gigowski. What’s It Worth? Making, Managing, and Measuring Value: Mobile Home Park (Term Publishers LLC, 2013).
—This is the “Bible” on analysis of MHPs and how to measure the factors that affect their value.

Moffit, Timothy, and Michelle Gigowski. What’s It Worth? Making, Managing, and Measuring Value: Self-Storage Facility (Value-It Press, 2016).
—This is the “Bible” on analysis of SSFs and how to measure the factors that affect their value.

Bergsman, Steve. Maverick Real Estate Investing: The Art of Buying and Selling Properties Like Trump, Zell, Simon, and the World’s Greatest Land Owners (Wiley, 2004).
—This is a high level overview of the highest and best investors in the world and the principles they used to succeed in their individual fields.

Cohen, Erez. Real Estate Titans: 7 Key Lessons From the World’s Top Real Estate Investors (Wiley, 2019).
—This is like an updated version of Bergsman’s book (above), 15 years later, about what these top investors did to be successful and the mindsets they used.

Johnson, Earvin “Magic.” 32 Ways to Be a Champion in Business (Three Rivers Press, 2008).
—In this book, Johnson describes how he used his resources effectively to build his RE empire, how real estate is looked at from a business standpoint, and how all his businesses related to being a master real estate investor.

Peebles, R. Donahue, with J.P. Faber. The Peebles Principles: Tales and Tactics from an Entrepreneur’s Life of Winning Deals, Succeeding in Business, and Creating a Fortune from Scratch (Wiley, 2007).
—This book covers in depth how Peebles built his real estate empire from nothing—he did a great job of describing the steps he took to build his empire, and it helped me to define what my competitive advantages are.

Zeckendorf, William. Zeckendorf: The autobiography of the man who played a real-life game of Monopoly and won the largest real estate empire in history (Parker Publishing, 1971).
—This is a unique story that took place in the early 20th century about how this dealmaker, Zeckendorf, made some of the most successful deals in the country, in New York and Denver. He described how the deals were done and it really highlighted the risks involved—it was inspirational because he created so much from just ideas and had such an influential effect on real estate in this country.

Zell, Sam. Am I Being Too Subtle? Straight Talk From a Business Rebel (Portfolio, 2017).
—Zell is the godfather—this is a raw, honest, authentic book that gets to the heart of what matters in real estate.

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Rand, Ayn, and Christopher Hurt (narrator). The Fountainhead (Audible audiobook, Blackstone Audio, Inc., 2007).
—Rand’s philosophies helped me understand that our self-interest motivates us and is about pursuing the highest form of yourself, and this is how it should be—however, you can get yours and still treat others fairly.

These books helped me with business operation and personal finance strategy.

Cunningham, Keith J. The Keys to the Vault: Lessons From the Pros on Raising Money and Igniting Your Business (Enclave Publishing, 2006).
—This book is about how to really run a business and understand how to raise money in an institutional fashion—and it describes what the professionals look for when they invest. It includes the most important things to pitch on and analyze from a business paradigm instead of a real estate framework.

Cunningham, Keith. The Road Less Stupid: Advice from the Chairman of the Board (Keys to the Vault, 2017).
—This book is about how to make great business decisions as a CEO, as the owner who’s steering the company. The author describes how to build a strategy to create a strong, enduring business that can compete.

DeMarco, MJ. Unscripted: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship (Viperion Publishing Corporation, 2017).
—This book helped me to define what wealth and freedom meant to me and how to design a plan around that—it’s more about the life I want to live than how much money I need to make.

Ferriss, Timothy. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Harmony, Expanded, Updated Edition, 2009).
—Tim Ferriss is all about efficiency—using tools and resources to the best advantage.

Pressfield, Steven. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles (Black Irish Entertainment LLC, 2012).
—Pressfield’s book deals with procrastination—that resistance you fight through in any endeavor—and that you never get something for nothing, and you have to take responsibility for the success (or not) that you create.

Manson, Mark. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (Harper, 2016).
—Manson’s book provides powerful tools to help you focus on what’s important and define the values and priorities in life to help put things in perspective.

Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (New World Library, 2004).
—This book is about being in the moment—a very practical and easy to understand way to achieve a Zen-like state for people from a Western culture, and it breaks down meditation into the mechanics of how you actually do it.

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Brady, Tom. The TB12 Method: How to Do What You Love, Better and for Longer (Simon & Schuster, 2020).
—Brady’s book covers the basics of healthy principles for exercise, recuperation, and nutrition.

Starrett, Dr. Kelly. Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World (Victory Belt Publishing, 2016).
—This book helped me stay healthy and fit even while spending hours a day doing deskwork.

—Books listed below, by Dr. John Sarno and Pete Egoscue, helped me deal with pain from a back injury and long hours at a desk, and I have incorporated their methods into my life. Egoscue’s book, Pain Free, is about the importance of posture and how it affects mood and how you think.

Sarno, M.D., John E. Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection (Grand Central Life & Style, 2018).

Egoscue, Pete. Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain (Bantam, Revised and Updated Second Edition, 2021).

Egoscue, Pete, with Roger Gittines. The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion: Revolutionary Program That Lets You Rediscover the Body’s Power to Rejuvenate It (William Morrow Paperbacks, Reprint Edition, 1993).

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Agassi, Andre. Open: An Autobiography (Random House Audio, 2009).
—This is a great listen on Audible. Agassi talks about winning, dealing with parents, and inner conflict.

Knight, Phil. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike (Simon & Schuster Audio, 2016).
—This is an amazing story on Audible about how Knight built a Fortune 500 business starting from nothing.

Walton, Sam, and John Huey. Sam Walton: Made in America (Recorded Books, 2018).
—This audiobook is about all the barriers Sam Walton had to overcome as he built the Walmart chain, including a tornado leveling one of his first stores.

Ward, Micky, and Joe Layden. A Warrior’s Heart: The True Story of Life Before and Beyond The Fighter (Penquin Audio, 2012).
—This great Audible book is about pure heart, guts, determination, and will, as Ward tells about achieving his goals and dreams.

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Scott Scheel’s Commercial Academy: https://commercialacademy.com/

Tony Robbins Mastery University: https://www.tonyrobbins.com/mastery-university/

Crowdfunding platforms are always changing, so research the options thoroughly for the most current information before you choose one.

Wallethacks does a good job of reviewing these: https://wallethacks.com/best-crowdfunding-real-estate-investing-sites/

Here are a few crowdfunding options to consider:

CrowdStreet: https://www.crowdstreet.com/
Fundrise: https://fundrise.com/
RealtyMogul: https://www.realtymogul.com/