Newbie seeking knowledge/experience- Morristown, NJ

[Tony Schlader]

Hello BP Forums!  I have been lurking here for a few months, and now that I had some time to absorb some of the wealth of knowledge, I would like to introduce myself!

My name is Tony Schlader, and I currently work full-time for a large medical company.  My job requires 50-60 hours per week, and extensive travel.  I don't hate my job, but am looking to use it as a way to pay off my student loans and then fund my investment portfolio.

I am very interested in real estate as a method to grow wealth and achieve financial freedom (like everyone on BP). I am very interested in multi-family rentals, specifically using the BRRRR method. However, I am waiting to invest until I finish paying off my student loans near the end of 2019 since a large portion of my available income is currently going there. At this point I intend to house-hack a multi-family and build from there.

During the interim, I want to learn more about how to be successful in real estate.  I believe that to be successful I will need to build experience and a network, however right now I don't have much to offer other investors ($, deals, etc).  I want to learn some skills such as how to find deals in my market, estimate repair costs accurately, attract tenants, etc.  There is great information on this site and others, but nothing replaces experience IMO.

My question to the BP community is this: what opportunities are there for someone like me to learn and gain experience despite my time constraint?  

Thanks and keep being awesome BP!

Tony