Newbie looking for advice on taking the first step!

[Eric Thornton]

Hello, I am new to BP and very eager to get into real estate investing.  I'm a seasoned business person, but totally new to real estate.  I've spent the past several months talking to agents and reading as much as I can, including several BP books.

My two ongoing questions are 1) I have an interest in commercial real estate, but should I start in residential? and 2) how do you take that first step, especially financing w/o prior experience.  My goal is to buy my first property by the end of June 2018.  Is it a mistake to focus on commercial real estate (small offices or small retail) until I have more experience?  

For many years, I found myself thinking that I should have gone into building or real estate development because of my aptitude and interests.  Over the past couple years, that got me invested in becoming an investor.  Thanks in advance for any expertise/advise you can offer to help go from thinking about it... to doing it!  

Thanks again,

Eric