The best books for apartment investors depend on the investor's experience level and goals. For beginner investors, Real Estate Investing for Beginners: The Complete Guide to Investing in Real Estate by Brandon Turner is a great place to start. For more experienced investors, The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down: Real Life Strategies for Investing in Real Estate Using Other People's Money by Brandon Turner is a great resource. Additionally, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller is a great book for investors looking to build wealth through real estate.

The most important things to consider when investing in apartments are location, utility billing, contaminants/health risks, plumbing issues, roofing, wooden building elements, and insurance costs.

Location is key when investing in apartments, as it largely determines the types of tenants the property will attract as well as the vacancy rate. It's important to be familiar with area information, including employment and economic data, economic health of local employers, population and population growth trends, and crime and safety data. Additionally, investors should look towards markets where values are likely to grow significantly over the property’s expected holding period.

Other important considerations include utility billing, contaminants/health risks, plumbing issues, roofing, wooden building elements, and insurance costs. Many buildings, especially older ones, have a shared utility billing setup, which can be a real burden for owners. Older apartment complexes may contain contaminants such as asbestos or lead paint, which will need to be remediated by a new owner. Plumbing can be yet another highly expensive issue faced by the owners of older apartment buildings. Flat roofs can present certain issues, typically with leaks. Apartment buildings with significant amount of wooden framing can be significantly more expensive to maintain than buildings with brick or concrete exteriors. Finally, older buildings, as well as those in run-down or rural areas will generally be more expensive for investors when it comes to insurance costs.

The advantages of investing in apartments include:

• Cash flow: While some types of investments, such as dividend stocks and annuities, provide some degree of payments to investors, they generally don’t hold a candle to the amount of cash generated by apartment buildings.
• Leverage: Apartments have the massive benefit of allowing borrowers to put down around 20% to 30% of the sale price while financing the rest over a 25-30 year amortization period. In general, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other types of investment opportunities offer nothing of the sort.
• Tax Incentives: Multifamily real estate is an ideal investment from a tax perspective. Not only can investors take substantial mortgage interest and depreciation deductions, but they can also often deduct travel and utility costs, as well as other expenses.
• Equity growth: Just like a single-family home, as time goes on, an investor will generally build up equity in their property as their mortgage is paid off. In addition, equity will increase if the property itself increases in value.
• Syndication/partnership potential: While most stock or bond investors invest by themselves, apartment complexes are an ideal investment for groups. By teaming up with other investors, you can purchase larger and better properties, maximizing your potential profits.
• Supplementary income: Though rental payments from tenants are typically the most substantial source of income for an apartment complex, other sources of income can make a serious difference. The most common supplemental income sources include laundry machines, vending machines, and parking spots for non-residents (which can be particularly profitable in upscale urban areas).

The disadvantages of investing in apartments include:

• Time investment: Selecting, financing, and purchasing an apartment complex can take months. And, while you can hire a property management company to take care of many of the day-to-day responsibilities of apartment ownership post-purchase, you’ll still need to spend a certain amount of time supervising the management company to ensure your investment remains profitable.
• Local market factors: While smart multifamily investors are careful to purchase real estate in great locations, no one can predict the future. For instance, the neighborhood you thought was gentrifying could see an increase in crime and poverty, leading to a steep decline in the value of your investment.
• Vacancies and tenant issues: While tenants generally provide 95% or more of the income generated by an apartment property, they can also cause serious headaches. Even tenants with great credit and long-term leases sometimes leave unexpectedly, not to mention those who fail to pay their rent, or worse, cause significant damage to your property.
• Liability: While smart property owners always have a robust insurance policy, owners still could potentially be held liable for accidents and crimes that occur on the property. This risk is basically non-existent for comparable investments such as stocks, bonds, or real estate investment trusts (REITs).
• Maintenance expenses: From windows and railings to appliances and lightbulbs, apartment buildings often need constant maintenance, and landlords are responsible for paying for it. While insurance may cover larger items, maintenance, repair, and replacement costs are still significant expenses.
• Low liquidity: Unlike stocks or bonds, you can’t simply click to sell an apartment building, and, even if you could, you might not get the price you want. Multifamily properties often take several months to sell, and closing can be a time-intensive process.

The most common mistakes made by apartment investors include:

• Not ordering an inspection early on in the decision-making process, which can help you determine whether a building has contaminants such as asbestos or lead paint, plumbing issues, roofing issues, or wooden building elements.
• Not being familiar with area information, including employment and economic data, economic health of local employers, population and population growth trends, and crime and safety data.
• Not outsourcing property management to a property management company, which can help manage the building and reduce liability risks.
• Not considering the liquidity of the property, as apartment buildings are not particularly liquid and can be difficult to sell.

Apartment investors can maximize their returns by utilizing value-add strategies. These strategies include replacing the management company, upgrading the units, increasing rents, and utilizing other methods to cut costs and increase profitability. Additionally, owners may wish to have tenants pay for their own cable (if it’s already being paid for by the building), as well as paying for a larger share of their utilities. Other value-add opportunities include finding new supplemental sources of income for your property, such as vending machines, storage sheds, or new parking spaces. For larger value-add deals that require significant property repairs or rehabilitation, an investor may want to get additional financing when shopping for a loan product. Source 1, Source 2, Source 3.