Advice for starting out

[Carl LaPiedra]

Hi everyone,

I am new here on Bigger Pockets. A friend introduced me to the website/podcasts a couple of months ago and I've been hooked since. I listen to the podcasts almost everyday to and from work. I just completed reading 2 BP books - "How to Invest in Real Estate" and "BRRRR", and am starting "Long-Distance Real Estate Investing" next. My ultimate goal is to own rental properties for cash flow and financial freedom.

I live in NYC and am employed by the city full-time, so I don't have a lot of free time, but I've been making use of what I do have.

My main question is, what are the first steps to get started? So far everything I've seen talks about getting educated. I've been reading the Rich Dad series since I was 17 years old (I'm now 30), and have read articles here and there, watched a few videos, and even attended a Than Merrell 3-day workshop but backed out at the $50,000 price tag on their continued 'education'. I did all this before being introduced to Bigger Pockets. Now that I've added a couple books and webinars, a bunch of podcasts, and have browsed through the forums, I feel that I really am just in analysis paralysis. I want to finally take my first steps and get out of it.

Should my first step be getting pre approved for loans? Do I do this only through banks?

For hard money, do I only apply after I've landed a deal on a house, or do I do the leg work for that ahead of time?

Also, I do not feel that NYC is worth investing in, at least not while starting out. I could be wrong, but to me the prices of most homes here are unreasonably high. So my question there is, if I'm getting pre approved for a loan, is it ok to do so where I live, even if I intend to invest elsewhere, or should I only get my pre approvals in places where I plan to invest?

This is a lot longer than I thought it would be, sorry for that. Any advice/suggestions is much appreciated though.

Thank you!