Throughout my career as an agent, team leader, managing broker, mentor, and all-around bookish person, I am often asked about the best resources for getting started in real estate. Admittedly, I usually find real estate books a bit dry, boring and not my primary interest – I love exciting stuff like urban planning and government policy. That said, I’ve still accumulated a significant library that helped build my real estate career. Sometimes a book might just have one or two ideas that hit you and executing those help add six figures in one year. Other times, the entire philosophy behind the book inspires a new perspective.

If you are either starting your real estate career or are look to make the leap from part time to full time or if you’re looking to grow your business to the next level, here are the 8 ABSOLUTE must reads, in my humble opinion:

1. THE 5AM CLUB (ROBIN SHARMA)

To be honest, this isn’t my style of literature. It’s a bit… fluffy. The slightly hokey story, however, isn’t the point. The book presents a long parable with the intention to guide you through the process of “win the morning, win the day”. You can easily read this in a day or two. Real estate is 90% mindset, 10% action and I believe that the right mindset has to be launched at the start of the day.

2. TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS OR WORK BY REFERRAL (BRIAN BUFFINI & JOE NIEGO)

Brian Buffini is one of the legends in the real estate coaching space. I have often recommended his group coaching programs for newer agents. Buffini is one of the strongest advocates for, as the name of his book suggests, a “referral based” business. The focus isn’t necessarily about targeting your friends and family to sell them real estate – it’s about nurturing trusted relationships so that they refer business to you. THEY become your best sales people for YOUR business. Buffini’s books aren’t long and they get straight to the methodologies that he teaches at his seminars. This, to me, is the ultimate “how to get started generating business” book for every new agent.

3. THE MILLIONAIRE REAL ESTATE AGENT (GARY KELLER)

This was my real estate bible for my first five years. I’m on my third copy since I keep lending it out and sometimes I don’t see it come back. This is one of those books EVERY agent should read every couple of years. It grows with your business. Some of it feels dated by now, but the main ideas all still hold up. I would suggest reading Buffini’s book before this one because of the weight of Kellers writing. There is just SO MUCH in this book that it can be overwhelming for a new agent. That isn’t to say a newer agent shouldn’t read this – you definitely should. Just understand that there is no way you can adopt everything from the very start. Let it grow with your business and revisit it every few years.

4. BUILDING A STORYBRAND (DONALD MILLER)

I was introduced to Donald Miller’s “storybranding” technique through Richard Robbins International coaching. Miller was a speaker at one of their annual Mastermind events and, as someone who appreciates the power of storytelling in the business setting, I immediately connected with this session. Miller uses the Hero’s Journey archetype to help you establish your business’ “story”. I’ll spoil the premise of the book here: you aren’t the hero – you’re customer is. You are the guide. The guide gives the hero – the one with a problem – the plan, calls them to action, helps them avoid failure, and end in success. Miller applies this journey to your business in a succinct, methodical way.

5. DELIVER THE UNEXPECTED (RICHARD ROBBINS)

Speaking of Richard Robbins, I have to recommend his book, Deliver the Unexpected. I have always appreciated Robbins philosophy. Unlike most other real estate coaches, Robbins is down-to-earth, a bit of a nerd, and he’s been preaching the same message for years: giving starts the receiving process. It’s simple, isn’t it? Give value before you ask for something in return. Instead of talking about “me, me, me” in your marketing – give something. Maybe that’s knowledge. Maybe it’s community. Maybe it’s a tangible value added product. Robbins gets into a lot more in this little book that punches above its weight.

Bonus: I’ll also recommend “The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg and John Mann as a book that shares the same philosophy. I’m not sure why it’s so pricey on Amazon, but you can buy a used paperback version for a fraction of the price.

6. ALIGN & PROSPER (DEBORAH STELLINGWERFF)

Playing six degrees of separation here, I also met Deborah through another coaching client of Richard Robbins. At the time she was a rockstar agent with one of my colleagues. One thing she is the first to admit to you: she’s more of a teacher than a salesperson. This is probably what made her such a good agent. I had the honour of previewing Stellingwerff’s recently released “Align & Prosper” script and this book, more than any of the other previously mentioned, is really targeting the mindset needs of today’s real estate agent. Just like Stellingwerff’s coaching program, this book finds a balance between uplifting life-affirming practices and solid business acumen.

7. THE CELLA SYSTEM (BOB CELLA)

If I thought Richard Robbins is a bit of a nerd, Cella is the ultimate real estate nerd. I met Bob through my network at Coldwell Banker. Cella rose through the sales ranks and took over Hawaii through his unique open house sales methods and techniques. Unfortunately, I think Cella’s book subtitle is a bit off putting or even misleading. When I read “…with the law of attraction” I’m thinking I’m going to be reading something fairly esoteric. Cella is anything but. The subtitle should be “how to use open houses to dominate your market”. Cella flips the traditional open house on its head. To be honest, I don’t think some aspects of his methodology will work in most marketplaces. Cella’s Hawaiian market is very tourist-investor oriented, which he really takes advantage of. However, if you use even a portion of his methods for your open houses, you’ll find gold.

8. KICK YOUR OWN ASS (ROBERT JOHNSON)

The award for the most “I know what this book is about” title goes to Robert Johnson’s “Kick Your Own Ass”. However, this is less of a “inspirational” wake up type of motivational book (I would say that the 5am Club is more like that) and more of a “how to take right actions to move forward even when you don’t feel like it” type of book. Yea – so it’s all about discipline.

I could have put quite a few books in this section. I would probably also recommend Mel Robbins’ “The 5 Second Rule” as well, but you really only need to read the first couple of chapters to get 95% of the value. I would also say Brendon Burchard’s “High Performance Habits” is also another good one along similar vein as KYOA, but it just didn’t have the same personal impact on me – still worth checking out!

More recommendations?

I could honestly go on and on, but I wanted to get you started. I’m currently reading Kathleen Black’s “The Top 1% Life“, which I received at the 2025 PacificWest Conference & Trade Show. What are you reading? What are your “must reads” for real estate agents? Let me know in the comments or shoot me a message – [email protected].