Use the search feature in the upper right hand corner and read some blogs and forum posts on the topic to ramp up your education.

Here's an article about it: BiggerPockets Coverdell Blog Post

In terms of crowdfunding, the only one I've invested with is rather unusual and I wrote in a BP blog about my investment experience with them after my first investment - I have since made several more.  

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8070/51749-the...Starting out?  

Make sure to check out the Bigger Pockets Blog: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/

Hey BP Community,I am new to this site and I haven’t invested in real estate yet.I’ve been spending a lot of time educating myself (reading books, listening to podcasts, reading blogs, etc).

Here’s a few sources referencing that method (http://www.jwbrealestatecapital.com/how-much-rental-income-to-holdback-for-maintenance-and-repairs/, http://www.zillow.com/blog/investing-101-estimating-rental-property-expenses-94824/, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/much-should-landlord-allocate-monthly-maintenance-repairs-80019.html, http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2012/05/29/look-at-maintenance-costs-before-leaping-into-homeownership). 

Here there are plenty of resources such as blog and forum posts, podcasts etc.

Check out the blog posts and the podcasts if you have not done so already.

I'm hoping to learn from all the wise folks here about investing in real estate.I heard about Bigger Pockets from a couple of personal finance blogs I follow: Mr.