Hello, I'm new, and I have a few questions

[Timothy Langer]

Hi, I'm new, I just purchased the books "No Money Down" and "the book on Rental Property Investing" from BP, I am kind of chomping at the bit to start buying properties and renting them out.  I've worked stupid jobs for too long.  I really want my time back.  (And to be a millionaire)  I saw a webinar from Brandon Turner, I am signed up for another one.  

I know a few people who are into real estate at my church.  One of them is a Real Estate agent.  I have heard that a lot of people try to avoid Real Estate agents because of the commission.  Is this a good idea or not?  

When I talked with her, she seemed to (like a lot of people) try to argue me out of doing any investment, and rattled off a number of documents and their prices that seemed relatively high.  

Also, I would like to buy my first house soon, I heard, (I think it was on the webinar) that there was a way to deal with bad renters, assuming I get some, how would I minimize issues?  

Is it better to set up an LLC in Nevada for avoiding loss of assets?

Is there some step by step procedure written down somewhere that I could look at to make sure I don't miss anything and screw myself over?

Also, I have gotten a lot of "what if this happens" from people trying to argue me out of RE investment.  Is this a common experience?