It's just a fact of life that it's only a small percentage of people who fit the bill, with the vast majority of everyone else who simply like the idea of something, but never actually do anything about it ... or they try for a little while, hit a couple speed bumps, and then give up and move on to something else.

God Speed Hope to hear from you, Michael Short 

I'm a part-time investor in real estate, and I'm getting myself up to speed by reading, attending REIAs, and getting coached and trained from various sources.

Best to speed that up with local connections and networking. 

Greetings fellow members,I first to thank the BP platform owners and community for providing the forum, tools and systems to help newcomers in the REI arena getting up to speed and moving along with their careers.We are entrepreneurs from the Boston area with an international cosmopolitan background.

That would speed things up.

What should I do next so I can speed up this process and feel like im actually doing something productive?

Along with most of the areas already mentioned, the neighborhoods around Powderhorn Park and south of there are also on the up and up.There are a lot of areas in Minneapolis with potential, but speed is key as inventory is getting snatched up fast.

Your speed is up to you.Good luck to you!

This will help speed the process up, but again would recommend keeping the day job.