Getting started on Long Island

[Anthony Tarantino]

Greetings all and Happy 2013!

I am a first time investor based on Long Island. Living in the shadow of New York City and seeing the skyline as I was growing up, I dreamed of someday building one of those skyscrapers.

Dreams are nice, but then there is the real world. I currently work as a professional engineer for a small Long Island based firm. I have a young family (2 kids under 2 years of age) and we are just starting out.

My plan is to begin supplimenting my day job with real estate. I'd like to begin with purchasing foreclosed or bank REO properties. I'd like to eventually turn this into a full time business, but one step at a time.

Can anyone give me some insight on starting out with the extra load of a family? I've heard plenty of stories of people working day and night to make those first couple of deals work, but that really isn't feasible for my lifestyle.

I'm not against hard work, and I know you get out of things what you put into them, just looking for some advice on how to juggle all of the balls in the air at once....