I live and work in Salem, Oregon now but I grew up in Silsbee, Texas and graduated from Lamar University in 1995.

For tracking each campaign I use excel however any call backs, appointments, warm/hot leads, contracts and deals all get entered into my CRM so I can notate and follow up appropriately. 

Universities & employment can also be added to your list. 

Christopher,The answer to this question is pretty much universal.

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

My plan to getting started is to buying a single family house 4-6 bedrooms for around 200-300k  and renting out each bedroom for around 600 a month the area I'm looking to invest in has 2 major university's and 1 major collage so id be looking to rent to students , I do not have enough money to put down a conventional 20% down payment for an investment property so id have to put down 5-10 percent down with Mortgage insurance and put it as my primary residence but realistically I wouldn't be living there. 

Thanks for the warm welcome, everybody! 

Here I went to school, found my first job at 14, and went to college at Stony Brook University.

I see a lot of newer agents if they don't have a warm market or sphere to tap into.. they will get on a big producers team.. this can jump start you.out our way agencies have lead creation systems and will literally hand you web leads for listings or sales.My wife had taken a few year hiatus and to kind of jump start ( her normal business is referrals) but she wanted to work some leads and get going and it worked very well she made many sales and got a few listing which in this market is simply money in the bank. find your niche.. and remember 95% of agents all try the same thing.. you may want to specialize.. and commerical agents though dog tough to start if you make it.. its a really good business once your established.

I appreciate the warm welcome from all!