newbie from NYC

[Francisco Tejada]

Hello, I am a newbie, I have done 0 investment deals. I did buy a new construction condo in the bushwick section of Brooklyn, NY in December 2007. I started to educate myself in early 2006 prior to purchasing condo and kind of stopped then. I started the education once again this year and have learned quite a great deal from podcasts, internet sites, webinars, REIA meetings, and home study courses. What is stopping me right is that I do not have enough of my own money to put as down payment. I know we can invest with OPM which is what I want to do. However I am also reading that I should not have a property more than 70-75% leveraged. I am having a hard time analyzing deals based on that.

I am primarily interested in buying/holding 5+ residential units. I am not interested in wholesaling. Do I have to be to get started? I have excellent credit (771) but not enough of my own money.