Financial education.

To succeed, educate yourself on multi-family investing, network with professionals, and find properties through various channels.

The tough ones are Education Debt.  

It is a pure commission sale “job” where the salesman must (1) pay for his own education (2) pay for his own leads (3) front his own money to put the sale “under contract” and put up his own money to pay all related expenses.  

Educate well.  

Sell it while the market is still strong.At the same time, start educating yourself.

If you're willing to educate yourself and have the personality for dealing with difficult situations, then it may be a good choice.Do yourself a favor: buy "Every Landlord's Legal Guide" by NOLO.

Almost nothing penciled out and I wasn't interested in buying properties with negative cash or banking on the possibility of future appreciation.So I resisted buying bad deals and pretty much sat on the sidelines from 2005 to 2009 and continued to build up cash, contacts, my credit score, and my RE knowledge/education. 

To get started, educate yourself on real estate investing, join local investment groups, analyze the market, prepare financially, find suitable properties, and analyze the deal.

Your first job will be to educate yourself daily on the investing strategies you plan to use.