Where to really start?

[Kiran Tatiparthi]

I am a newbie to real estate investing and I have been passive for a while reading a lot of great information from the forums, blogs and books. I want to take a plunge now and get a multi unit apartment to buy and rent but still confused about where to really start.

Me and a couple of my friends are going to pool in for the down payment. So, Do We start with setting up an LLC or just partnership? Can we do it any other way? How do we decide on which way to go?

Should we find a real estate broker first or go get a pre-approval?

At what stage do we talk to a real estate attorney?

Although things seemed simple while reading, starting off surely is daunting. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!