The 5 Books That Quietly Changed How I Invest in Property

Author

Solomun Beyene
December 25, 2025

Good morning,

And Merry Christmas everyone. I hope the festive period brings you peace, love, and a bit of well-earned rest.

This week, I wanted to share the five books that changed the way I think in the property game.

Not because they taught me what to buy, but because they rewired how I think when negotiating, scaling, and holding property in any markets.

Let’s dive in.

This Week’s Biggest News…….

  1. BoE reduced base rate from 4.00% to 3.75% on December 18.

  2. UK Rental Market Continues Slowing as Rents Drop for Fourth Consecutive Month

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The 5 Books That Quietly Changed How I Invest in Property

(And why I still come back to them when the market feels uncertain)

I didn’t learn the most important lessons in property from courses or spreadsheets.

I learned them slowly, (usually after making mistakes) and these five books helped me make fewer of them.

I’ve read each one cover-to-cover. I still reference them today. And more importantly, they’ve shaped how I think when money is on the line, rates are high, and decisions feel heavy.

What it gave me: confidence in uncomfortable conversations.

Negotiation used to feel awkward. I didn’t want to push too hard. I didn’t want to “lose” the deal. This book taught me that negotiation isn’t about being aggressive, it’s about listening.

For property investors, this matters more than you think.

When you’re sitting across from a seller who’s stressed, tired, or just wants certainty, understanding their emotional drivers can be the difference between hesitation and commitment.

It turns pressure into calm. And calm closes deals.

What it gave me: clarity.

Before this book, I worked hard… but I felt stuck. I was doing “the right things” and still watching money disappear every month.

Kiyosaki’s lesson is simple, but confronting:

Assets put money in your pocket. Liabilities take it out.

For me, this was the moment I stopped chasing properties and started chasing cashflow. Every deal now gets one question: Does this support my life, or drain it?

That shift alone removed years of confusion and a lot of stress. One of the best books I’ve read that is a must to understand the power of assets that build wealth.

What it gave me: breathing room.

I used to do everything myself. Late-night tenant calls. Weekend viewings. Boiler issues when I should’ve been resting.

This book made me realise something uncomfortable: I wasn’t being “hands-on”, I was being the bottleneck. Tough pill to swallow.

Hiring a letting agent felt expensive… until I realised I was buying my time back. Time to think. Time to analyse better deals. Time to step back instead of burning out.

Now my evenings are quieter. My decisions are better. And my portfolio grows without me being constantly on call.

What it gave me: permission.

I used to think the goal was more. More properties. More doors. More net worth.

Perkins challenged that entirely.

Instead of asking “How big can this get?”, I asked:

How much do I actually need to live well?

For Perkins, the answer was 12 properties. Not 100. Not endless scaling. Twelve. That brought him clarity, target and peace once he achieved it.

Once he knew that, the pressure lifted. He stopped chasing and started enjoying. Today, he’s portfolio funds six months of travel a year and doesn’t feel guilty, because that’s what the money was always meant to do.

Find your target and be patiently aggressive to your goal.

What it gave me: emotional resilience.

When rates spiked in 2022, fear was everywhere. People panicked. Some sold at the worst possible time.

This book helped me sit still.

Housel reminds us that getting wealthy and staying wealthy are different skills. One requires courage. The other requires restraint.

My current strategy isn’t exciting. It’s survivable. And in markets like this, survivable beats clever every time.

Completely changed how I view money after reading this. Amazing book.


Bottom Line

For me, these are powerful books because I don’t just read them once, I return to them.

I treat them like a dictionary. Whenever I find myself in a certain state of mind, rushed, uncertain, emotional, I open one of these pages and it recentres me.

They help me regain perspective, slow down, and focus on responding thoughtfully rather than reacting impulsively.

What’s Next?

So What Does This Mean for You?

Property investing isn’t just about numbers, deals, or timing — it’s about how you think under pressure.

These books have helped me stay calm when the market is noisy, make better decisions when emotions run high, and keep my focus on the long game.

And in investing, that mindset is often the difference between progress and regret.

Merry Christmas,

P.S. If you’ve read any of these, I’d genuinely love to know which one changed how you think the most.

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