Getting a Mentor

[Steven Lacy]

Hello, My name is Steven Lacy and I'm new to the BP forum. I've been listening to the podcasts for some time now and from what I'm gathering is that I need to get a good mentor to learn from. I'm a 38 year old New Construction Plumber (24yrs) and I live in Santa Rosa Ca. I have a mentor in mind that I've only met once but we have the same mutual acquaintances  for the past 25yrs. I have a wife and two children (7 yrs and 1 yr old) and I am the only one working. 

My question to my Bigger Pockets family is what are some of the things I should do before I go and talk to this person. I am as green as they come when it comes to real estate (except for the BP podcasts) so I'm not sure where to begin. I have a short term plan (10 yr) but I haven't come up with a long term plan.

I know real estate is where I belong (even though my whole life I was told to stay away from owning property), I've been around it my entire career. I wasn't ready to get into real estate at that time in my life because I didn't know what I wanted. I know what I want, I just don't know how to get it. The main thing I would like to do is provide for my family and spend more time with them. I've always thought flipping was awesome because thats what I have been around due to my trade but lately I've been thinking about buying and holding. 

This is where I will start, all the podcasts I've listen to have told me to get on the forum and type in my questions and there will be people to answer them for me. Sooooooo, these are my questions and I hope YOU....my BP family can help me out, point me in the right direction, get me started on the right path....

Thank You very much, everyone!

Here's  to a great forum and many more questions.