you can start without cash but that makes your lending very pricey. not having a "stake" in the game means you carry no real risk which makes lenders nervous. the market here is tight enough to make a newbie, no money down deal very hard to be comfortably profitable when you're competing against experienced, cash buyers. hard money rates for a no money down deal around here would be 6 points (if you're lucky) and 18 percent....
before the sunprime incident, people were making big bucks in fastmoving markets like california and florida, where property values were increasing at unnatural levels and banks were fairly free and easy with their cash.
you can make good money in real estate, however, the days of get rich quick in real estate are not the norm and shouldn't be your expectation.
