Hi @Joshua Dorkin
Here is my humble opinion, and the steps that i have taken(I just closed my first property in August).
1a) Education- Read as much as you can about all types of real estate investment, listen to pod-casts, go to seminars, and investors meetings. Learn everything you can.
1b) Get your house in order- As you educate yourself, get your finances in order. Save money for down payments, make sure your debt to income level will let you purchase a rental. Just make sure you have a sound financial picture.
2) Decide what your goals are. Do you want buy and hold, to you want to flip at the beginning then move to buy and hold. How do you see your real estate portfolio looking. What are the quantifiers you need to hit to have a "successful" property. Do you want a certain cash on cash return, or a certain ROI, or a certain amount of passive income each month. Figure out what you want.
3) Find a Mentor- If you have been going to real estate meetings then you should be able to find someone there that you can bounce ideas off. I was lucky that one of my friends has been doing real estate deals for a while and I was able to use him as a sounding board for a lot of my issues.
4) Set your price point and farm area- Depending on where you live you will need to figure out how much you can purchase(pre-approval from a bank) and where that will let you purchase. Then start looking at the properties that are available.
5) Find an evaluation template- There are tons out there, but from here on out it comes down to math. Plug the number into your template and see if they hit your goals for a "successful" property. If not move on.
6)Write the offer- Using your template and your goal numbers you will have a good idea of where you are comfortable. Make sure you have a little wiggle room(your mentor should be able to help you determine a good amount to room) and go with it.
Good luck, I hope this helps.
Ben