What are the top 5 books for real estate investors? For the past decade, my entire working life has been committed to real estate investing and coaching, training and mentoring others on how to become successful real estate investors. As you probably could tell from my company name, I am extremely passionate that the secret to success in any endeavor is in having a mentor. It is difficult to learn to ride a bike by reading the manual. That’s why a mentor is so critical to your success. However, books do have their place in financial education. Rising above the noise of hundreds of thousands of mediocre books, here are the ones I recommend to prospective real estate entrepreneurs. And as an added bonus, several of them are FREE! Here are the top 5 books for real estate investors:

1. The Bible: Surprised? Studies have shown that CEOs and business leaders the world over recognize the Bible as the #1 business book in their library. Specifically, read the book of Proverbs, 1 chapter each day (there are 31 chapters); it will take you a few minutes to complete each day. The author was King Solomon, the richest man in history. He knows a thing or two about success and money. You can get access to the Bible for free from several places. I recommend YouVersion and also, download their Bible app to your iPhone or Droid. YouVersion gives you access to several translations; I recommend the NIV 1984 translation. And further, I highly encourage you to seek the assistance of a mentor to help you fully comprehend this book (if you haven’t already done so). It’s the best selling book year after year and the best selling of all time for a reason.

2. Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill: For over 75 years, this book has been the standard in inspiring people from all walks of life to achieve extraordinary success and reach their goals. Many famous entrepreneurs credit this book as the spark that ignited a lifelong commitment to success. It is the standard and the original book on how to succeed. It has stood the test of time and you can download the Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill Free eBook here. You’ll want to read this book over and over again.

3. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: Real estate is a people business. Knowing how to deal with people is one of the most important skills you will need to succeed with real estate investing. Too many beginner investors skip over this important foundational step and then find themselves frustrated by not making any money or closing any deals. Dale Carnegie’s classic, after 70 years, remains the standard in discovering how to win friends and influence people. It has stood the test of time and even more good news is that you can download the How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Free eBook here. You’ll also want to read this book over and over again.

4. Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins: Real estate investors, as well as so many other self employed business owners and entrepreneurs, must learn how to take complete control over their actions and thoughts. The ability to take action and follow through is mandatory if you ever want to be successful in real estate. Tony Robbins is the foremost authority on helping people find their own personal power and awaken the giant within themselves. The best selling personal development course of all time, now over 30 years old, Personal Power II The Driving Force, is a 30 day audio program that helps you discover your own personal power. This book, Awaken the Giant Within, is basically the written book version of that course. What Tony teaches are crucial skills you must have in order to reach your full potential on a daily basis and over a lifetime.

5. Good to Great by Jim Collins: This is my personal favorite business book. It reveals the most productive way to build a business for the long term. If you are going to a be a real estate investor, it means you are going to be a business owner. Rather than read hundreds of business books, if you just read and apply what you learn from this one, you will be light years ahead of hundreds of thousands of businesses out there. Whether you are looking to build a one person operation or a huge company, the lessons you’ll discover in this book are eye opening and incredibly powerful. Although this book hasn’t been around as long as the others on this list, I believe that many years from now, Good to Great will be as popular and applicable as it is today. This book more than any other (except the Bible, of course), has had the most profound impact on my business life.

Why no books specifically on real estate, you ask? I read between 1 and 2 books per week, week after week, month after month and year after year. Several hundred, if not thousand, books later, I can safely say that I have not read a real estate specific book that stands the test of time. Real estate investing is an ever-changing business and the strategies that worked several years ago may not be working nearly as well right now. Plus, real estate is localized and what works extremely well in your area may not be as applicable in my area. In addition, real estate investing is a vast subject matter. Most real estate investing books are either specific to the time in which the book was written, more applicable to the area the author was used to investing or is simply to general to cover real estate investing properly. Instead, we have found that having a mentor and joining a long term real estate coaching program is the best way to learn how to be a successful real estate investor. We certainly have reading materials that go along with our coaching and training, but my course is over 900 pages at this point and seems to always be growing. To learn more about our real estate investing mentoring services, apply to become my apprentice here.

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