I started reading about real estate investing about 2 years ago. I looked into buying courses or going to "boot camps" if that's what their called.. but when I found Biggerpockets, I decided against all that. The most I have done in spending money for education is purchase some books and donate a littlemoney here to BP.
What you need to do is figure out what route you want to go - wholesaling, rehabing, landlording, holding notes.. etc and then go back to the first page of posts here on BP and read through them all. Ask questions and get to know the people who are doing it, NETWORK. I have met a few people from BP and they have helped me out tremendously. I am in SW FL right now and currently doing or have on the market 2 rehabs. I bought Richard Warrens book, asked a lot of questions and read everything there is here on BP on the subject... that was my education... never had any faith in gurus who seem to spend the bulk of their time marketing and pitching their sales...who knows if they are even actually practicing real estate investing.
If you are looking for a system to follow for rehabbing, JScott has a good one and it is free if you read his blog posts on 123flip. I've used his advice in my rehabs..
