This book lays out *everything* you must do in order to become as successful as possible. The thing I like most is, it is not a get rich quick type of book. The Real Estate field has enough of those books already.

As the market changes drastically (March '08), the plans and guidelines found within this book are even more critical than ever.

The only reason I rated this book as a four is your success is still your responsibility. But this book will definitely help you along your way. Carefully consider getting a copy today!

I am pleased that I purchased this book. The first two chapters have already benefited me tremendously. I used Dirk's techniques to interview with three companies before making my decision as to who to place my license with. I hope everyone finds this book as beneficial as I did as a new agent. I also enjoy that it is a very easy to read and understand text. I will buy the remainder of Dirk's books in the future.

As a Real Estate Marketing Consultant, I have find this book very useful in assisting my first and second year real estate agent clients. It is basic, but realistic. A good place to start!

Contains great insight on finding the right company and focusing on improving yourself. Good information about avoiding common pitfalls. Some decent tips on financial independence. Overall mostly a motivational book.

I'm a real real estate agent and mortgage broker in Florida. I found this book great for beginners; it helped me find the right agency and gave me an introduction to the profession. The book is full of simple principles to send you in the right direction and help you build good work habits. It guided me organize my efforts and gave me an interesting perspective on the industry; the book contains a great overview. I highly recommend this book for anyone starting the field, like new associates or pre-licensed people interested in becoming agents.

Agents or brokers that have been in the field for a while may want to seek a more advanced book.

I have been full time in the real estate business since 1956. This, without a doubt, is one of the best books ever written, concerning real estate. It is not only good for the new person entering real estate, or thinking about entering, it is also excellent for those that have been practicing for a good number of years. I purchased a book for each of my agents and we reviewed it page by page in subsequent Staff Meetings.

In addition I have purchased several to give away to potential agents. I want them to know what is required to be successful in this business.

Donald Kingsley, CRB, CRS

Wanting to get started in Real Estate, hate the idea of cold calling!!!

This is a soup to nuts primer on how to get started and keep going. Well worth the $$ and time invested!!!

As a broker, I'm always looking for new material for training my agents. This is the BEST book I've found for new real estate agents in the industry. Being a realtor is not easy, this book helps answer a lot of the questions that a new agent has. I would recommend reading this book BEFORE you decide to become an agent as it may help you with that decision. I would also recommend to read for anyone that is just startig or perhaps has been in a while but not quite making the amount of money or sales that they are happy with.

I thought this book was a waste of money. It was too simple, suggestions were not worth paying for. I sold it on ebay. It wasn't worth returning it to Amazon, and losing money because of the shipping.

This is a good beginning start for a 'new' real estate agent. It provides a stepping stone of information and gives perspectives of what you could do in the beginning of your career. Be mindful that you are working for commission and customers is your number one goal. Having customers, being able to network and create leads are three primary necessities. Please note the strategies here are not at all canon. In other words, you need to re-adjust strategies based on your location and your situation. For instance, in one part of the book, it tells you to go with a large brokerage to get your feet wet, but that may not help if you're looking for a mentor, as many large brokerages, especially commercial ones, do not have the time nor are they interested in raising another competitor.

Overall the book is solid, in that it provides a stepping stone.

-Matt
Illustrator for the Ultimate Foreclosure Kit
(ISBN 0978834658)

After one year in the real estate industry, I needed to clean my book shelf. This book was thrown into the box marked "useless".
Let me tell you why.

The first time I bought and read it, I had no real working experience and thought I got great information about industry. Thus I thought I was ahead of other newbies. I read this book so many times, underlined, and dog eared.
Looking back, the only thing this book was right is "average income is very low".
For the rest, unfortunately, I found this book actually mislead me too much and lead me to costly mistakes.

One example. The author suggested that office located in busy street is better for newbies. I found this was not true. I worked with 3 offices.

The other example is that the author suggested that bigger office is better for newbies. I found this is absolutely not true. The reality is it's much better to start with small office where you can easily find mentor. In reality, in large offices, competition among salespersons are high to the level that no one cares about helping newbies. Get the fact. Everyone is working on commission. They don't even wast time to go lunch with you!!! And here's the facts. This business of real estate sales is not really intellectual, not even to the level of professional. It's all about how much people you know and how much people know you. This is rather a business of convenience. Every other salesperson even in the same office is a potential enemy for your business!!! Why they help and teach you to suceed. It only reduces their chance of making listings and sales!!!

Once I realized this, after actually working in industry, I knew this book was useless and never refered to this book for anything.

One and a half year after I actaully got into the industry, I found the very useful book. If you are about to be a real estate salesperson, read "How to suceed in commercial real estate" by John L. Bowman. I know this is for commercial real estate. But this book is WAY BETTER than "Your First Year in Real Estate".

Don't make costly maistakes by reading "Your First Year in Real Estate". 80-90% newbies fail in first 3 months. Reading wrong books can be fatal for your career.

This is a first edition and I want to see if there's a second edition. The transition from novice to professional is complexed and is truly dependent on each local market. It's built on common sense -- customer service and follow-ups. One of the MAJOR issues that this book highlights is people not simply answering the phone! I do give it three stars because it doesn't complete the way for a real estate agent. An RE agent should become an investor -- that's the true professional status. Instead of being the middle man, be the main player.

Supplemental real estate book that would be a good combo with this:

Investing Without Losing: The Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Tax Lien and Tax Deed Auctions (ISBN 0978834607)

The book is overly simplistic and aasumes the reader has absolutly no common sense. I see little useful information here. The book lacks the detail anyone would be looking for entering into the resl estate business.

I am really perplexed by the reviews that where negative on this book. I found it to inspirational, education, well written with quality content. Delivered in an easy to read upbeat fashion. I think the chapters on sales skills, selecting the right company and finding a mentor are right on target.
I do not know what Mr Einzige "just a dude" is talking about. I have read Ferry's book. It was not even written in this century. It was written in 1992. The real estate busines has changed dramatically in the last 14 years give me a break.
One of the other reviewers Jameson Thottam bashed the book because it does not have sections on i.e., "valuation, SEC II stat techniques, tax implications and flippying and insider trading tips of how to find/negotiate the best properties." That is not what a first year book for people who want to learn to sell real estate as Realtors need to know. It is not the title for the book. This is not a real estate investment book.
It is a solid book about getting through your first year in the business. I found it to give a realistic picture to the new and unintiated agent.
You might also consider the authors new book Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies. That is the next step up from this book and it is excellent.

I am really perplexed by the reviews that where negative on this book. I found it to inspirational, education, well written with quality content. Delivered in an easy to read upbeat fashion. I think the chapters on sales skills, selecting the right company and finding a mentor are right on target.
I do not know what Mr Einzige "just a dude" is talking about. I have read Ferry's book. It was not even written in this century. It was written in 1992. The real estate busines has changed dramatically in the last 14 years give me a break.
One of the other reviewers Jameson Thottam bashed the book because it does not have sections on i.e., "valuation, SEC II stat techniques, tax implications and flippying and insider trading tips of how to find/negotiate the best properties." That is not what a first year book for people who want to learn to sell real estate as Realtors need to know. It is not the title for the book. This is not a real estate investment book.
It is a solid book about getting through your first year in the business. I found it to give a realistic picture to the new and unintiated agent.
You might also consider the authors new book Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies. That is the next step up from this book and it is excellent.

overall a good read with lots of information for a new agent or someone who has passed their exam and while waiting for their license to arrive is seeking to further educate themselves.

This book is FULL of metaphors. If you cut out all the metaphors and all the repeating itself, it might have 10 pages of content worth reading. But, your money is probably better spent elsewhere. This is what I get for looking for a book on real estate in a brick and mortar store rather than coming online. It was the only book I could find at the time.

There is some good info there, but I'm sure that you can get a LOT more valuable info for your money by purchasing a different book.

There seem to be a lot of lousy entry books for Real Estate professionals. Myself and my husband, Jameson Thottam (he used to work with Real Estate firms such as The Loan Page, Homestore and IndyMac Bank), have been dabbling in residential real estate and we found this book a horrible start in terms of teaching the core secrets (i.e., valuation, SEC II stat techniques, tax implications and flippying and insider trading tips of how to find/negotiate the best properties).

Avoid this book like the plague, and trust us, Elizabeth and Jameson Thottam....we've been in the business for the last two years now and would not recommend this book.

- The Thottam family

I love this book, I'm actually reading it a second time and taking notes! I start my new real estate career next week, and will use the information in this book immensely!

Anyone who is looking for that extra boost to gain new customers and keep old ones should definitely read this book.

And for $15 this book is a steal!

I am new in the real estate industry and this book has been fantastic. I have been going back reading some chapters. Great tool

I've just taken my real estate exam in Illinois, and I can tell you this book is completely useless with the sole exception of the first couple of chapters.

The introductory chapter is good, and the questions to ask a hiring broker are excellent. All that said, that is about all that is good about this book. I'm rating it at 2 stars just because of the first chapters.

Mentions scripts for 50 some odd occasions, and none of the scripts are in the book. Wow, what am I supposed to do now? Obviously, this is just a book going on a good title and providing little if any content.

Read Danielle Kennedy's books and you will a marked contrast in the types of information you are given here. Now some of the information in Kennedy's books may be a little outlandish, but they are not right-out-wrong, or missing entirely.

- Sean

Sorry, but I don't understand how this book has gotten any good reviews. It is pure fluff. The writer seems to be more of a 'motivator' than someone who can actually accomplish anything on his own. He fails to address simple issues is a straightforward manner.

Simplistic writing and convoluted logic. Save your money and buy Gary Keller's Millionaire Agent book. It is far better at showing you how to leverage your time and resources into very large returns. This author talks about beating the average income of $17,000/year. Keller teaches you how to maximize your potential and become financially independent.

This book is a good "basics" book, but the previous reviewer was right... "set a goal, be persistent and find a mentor"

If you have any sort of experience in real estate, whether it's personally knowing realtors or even buying and selling your own real estate - don't bother buying this book. Also, if you are planning on joining a non-traditional real estate broker (i.e., new construction, niche markets like condos, timeshares, etc) no need to buy this book. With my broker, I don't need to do my own listings, prospecting, advertising, etc and this book had no insight.

However, if you are just taking your license exam, and still don't know where you're going to hang your license, this book does help you figure out which broker you'd like to join.
Good Luck!

This book is definitely written for the first year Sales Associate. It is loaded with just about everything you need to know as a novice starting out.
After reading this book, I definitely got a real boost of confidence and the feeling that I was ready get started in a career as a Real Estate Agent.

If you are just startin out in this business, this book is a must have. Dirk Zeller kept it simple and interesting. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.

Being brand new in the real estate world, this book has leap started my career. In the first two months that I have been selling, I have had 4 closings. I owe it all to this book. It teaches you whats important and how to compete with seasoned agents. This book is also a very easy read. I highly recomend it.

When you are new to Real estate as I am, there is so much to learn it is overwhelming. This book is very basic but it is all usefull information. I gave it 4 stars because most of it is common knowlege but many of us, including myself, can make things more complicated than they need to be especially when you are getting so much inforation from so many sources; broker, the board, the dept of Real Estate. This book simplifies many things that we encounter when we are getting started and takes alot of the complication out of the simple tasks that are necessary to become successful. I know I am reading everything that I can get my hands on and this one was worth the time to read. Just be careful because alot of his suggestions won't work in every market. Don't waste your time on prospecting that doesn't work in your area. Best of luck!