Start small and Make Your Big Mistakes Early.1.  

Just like professional athletes who still work with coaches to hone their skills, a real estate mentor or coach can provide you with valuable insights, shortcuts, and strategies that can help you avoid mistakes and fast-track your success.

@Tannia CastroRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

My mistake.

As a new investor, I made the common mistake of being too aggressive, starting with seven distressed units all at once.

I'm hopeful I'll be able to get my apartment back and not make the same mistakes again. 

He didn't learn Sub-To and other tricks until he was more experienced, and he had the money to pour into it and absorb mistakes.

I once made the mistake of chasing multiple listings at once, which turned into a disaster.When I shifted my focus to serving one client at a time with honesty, integrity, and accountability, referrals started coming in without any marketing.

I decided I had learned from pay mistake and did not entirely gut the apt.  

There were several mistakes made on my tax returns that I pointed out, which required going back and forth with their tax preparers.