Some of the best books on real estate are some of the most common ones but for unrelated various reasons. Most books on real estate only give anecdotal information and, with the laws varying from state to state, can be difficult to apply to your career.

What I decided to do was to grab a few of these books, both hard cover and also on audio book. I picked up one from Gary Keller (of Keller Williams) Donald Trump & Dean Graziosi. I enjoyed them all but for different reasons.

First off, Gary Keller offers the most practical approach to any real estate agent getting started. He's one of the most popular real estate agents on the planet and has, in my opinion, one of the most successful brokerages in the US. All the information he provided in his book was applicable to me when I was getting started. His book is really for someone that maybe is a part of a small mom and pop office where there isn't much training. After one get's their RE license then few offices offer ongoing training. For the most part, you will have to go to your local board or MLS to obtain any relevant on going training. However, Gary's books are good and, like I said, give you valuable insight for getting started. I recommend his "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It's not about the money...it's about being the best you can be!"

My next two favorites are Donald Trump and Dean Graziosi. Now, these are two polarizing individuals. Either you love them or you hate them. I happen to like them both.

For The Donald, I recommend "Trump Strategies For Real Estate". Now, if you are in a small market you won't find any real applicable strategies as most of the insight is from DT's experiences in NYC. The one thing that does irritate me about his books is that, from what I can tell, he doesn't put pen to paper and write the book. He co-writes with another author that he trusts. Now, nothing wrong with that but I want to hear the author talking to me. There was some valuable information in the book that I read and the insight gained from made me think in ways I had never thought of before. The way he structured and negotiated some of those deals is mind boggling. A very interesting read for sure.

Now, Dean is an interesting cat. If you look him up on line that guy is selling everything from cars to real estate. I like that he has a history selling informational products. One interesting thing I learned from him was that he shared with me how to buy tax liens. A very interesting concept and one that is easy to implement. Well worth reading.

All in all, none of these books gave a step by step process to getting started as a real estate agent and, honestly, I don't believe any book on the market will give you those tips and tricks encompassed in one book. However, I have found that they are practical in the advice offered. If I had to pick the best of the three I would recommend Gary's books as a first read. You really can't go wrong. Especially for the agent that is looking to brush up on some fresh concepts or the new agent looking to get started. The Donald and Dean are good for the real estate investor looking for additional strategies. I enjoyed those for different reasons that I applied to my real estate investing career.