What's the next step I should take in my real estate education?

[Shon Butani]

Hi how's it going. Just finished Brandon Turner's "The Book On Rental Property Investing" and am looking to either read another book on the subject, or put what I learned into the action.

It was a lot to digest for someone who's brand new to real estate investing, but there were a few main takeaways I got from it.

1. Location is make or break...I'm from NY and wanted to know your thoughts on buying and holding rentals in this area. From what I've briefly read, it's not a good idea and very hard to generate cash flow. But, there are obviously investors in NY who make money. So I wanted to know if my next step should be to fully research the NY markets, from Long Island to Queens to Manhattan, maybe go to a local real estate club meeting, and just become well versed on what's out there. Or would you recommend as a new investor, I stay away from the NY markets altogether. 

2. The math is the most important part. In the book, Brandon talks a lot about the math, accurately forecasting income and expenses in order to predict cash flow. This seems like something that I'll need to read a lot more about, in depth. I want to be confident in my first deal with the numbers. I don't want to be confused or second guessing my income/expenses due to a lack of knowledge. Are there any additional resources you could recommend to learn how to forecast cash flow? 

Those two points seemed like the most logical "next steps" for me. Taking what I learned, and applying them to my area. But maybe this is all a little premature, and it'd be better to get a few more books under my belt on the general subject. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

-Shon