I think the "best" place is always going to be real life experiences, but I would recommend reading some basic negotiating books.

FinkelThis book offers details on finding motivated sellers, finding tenant buyers, plus case studies with hundreds of tips on how to be an investor.

I would love to get going as soon as possible but i just do not know how, so i am going to be reading books to try and learn the ropes.i greatly understand that learning first hand is like no other teaching i could have so i definately want to do this before college. i actually wanted tobuy an acre of commercial land now and put 10-20 self storage units on it, and run that while i was in college, just for the experience as long as i didnt lose money, atleast not a great amount. my dad however wont help me do this, and i dont know how to do it on my own.i am applying for my first credit card next weekend, so i can start building credit.

A good deal is a good deal in my book.

What books did everyone read that helped them to get started?

I saw the clearest presentation of the concept in Jeffrey Taylor's book, Landlord's Toolkit, which I think was clearly a notch well above the other rental property books out there for tips and tricks and mindset.

There are tons of books, articles, and resources here on biggerpockets and on the web.

As for reference information, the most up to date tax deed / tax lien book I've read was published on Feb 1, 2007.

You'll go in find some great books and buy them.

Bigger lenders tend to work by their own book.