BP Community please help me take the first step to success

[Mark Fuhrman]

Hi BiggerPockets community,

I am a complete newbie and have been wanting to do real estate investing for a while now. Here is some information that might help give me a good response on what kind of course of action I should take. I have a job in the industrial construction field and work 50 - 60 hours a week. With that time is limited on what I can do a week. Also I am 25 years and currently rent in the south Houston area. I am looking for investment property only and do not plan on moving to that location.

So with that said I was wanting to know a few things that you might be able to help me with.

1. Should I get my real estate license or work with a realtor before I start jumping into the real estate investing business?

2. Would it be better to buy a run down house and try to fix it up and rent it out or buy a higher priced house/condo/townhouse and try to rent that out instead?

3. What is usually the rule of thumb when it comes to how much money you need to get a loan and everything else (closing costs, inspector etc.) when you buy a property?

These are all the questions I have for now and hope that you will be able to help me out. I appreciate any input.

Thank you,