Newbie from Concord, North Carolina

[Sterling Brown]

Hey BiggerPockets! My name is Sterling, I'm currently residing in Concord, North Carolina and as you can guess from the title of this post, I'm a complete newbie to the Real Estate world. I'm currently in the educational phase, though I've narrowed down exactly which field of real estate I'm going to succeed in; the rental real estate field. I found out about BiggerPockets through YouTube.

I'm currently taking a few steps towards learning everything I need to know before I take action and begin to look for and purchase my first property. I'm currently reading "The Book on Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner. I'm studying rental real estate through various YouTube videos including the analytics side of rental real estate. I've gone to one REI seminar in my area and have signed up to go to another next week to network and join their group. I've connected with one realtor so far though I haven't asked her to start sending me automatic email alerts for new property listings.

I've been flooding myself with information on real estate. I've formed a very general understanding on the process of finding a property for sale and running the analytics to figure out the cash on cash return on investment. Though after these two steps, my knowledge is very limited. I know for myself that I'm going to have to open a mortgage for my first rental property. I understand that normally people make about a 20% down payment; my question is where do you get the money to pay for the down payment, if you don't have it?

I'd like to welcome any other new members out there as well; especially if you're brand spanking new to real estate like I am. Understand that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Continue to remind yourself that you WILL succeed, it's just a matter of time and consistency. Get rid of the fear of failure, it's going to happen. But when it does, learn from your mistakes and become excited to try again with your newfound knowledge. 

I'm very open to tips and being directed in the right direction. If you were in my shoes, have found success in real estate and have a good idea as to what I should be doing next, I'd really appreciate the help. (I'm NOT asking for a mentor)

Thank you.

- Sterling Brown