@John Peine 100% agree on the car aspect...that is what I'm looking to do.

Do these markets fit your defined criteria or are personal motives more involved in your decision?

I wonder if you’ve defined what your goals are.  

I will definitely look into this aspect of everything more as I make my decision.

And Welcome, I'd have to agree with Marcus and say the most important first first first step would be landing on a niche and perhaps defining your goal(s)

I love development more than any other aspect of real estate and am working on finding a way to start building Multifamily units with private lending.

"A close friend with a clearly defined family type relationship and documented interest in the borrower".

@Stephen Karakitsios I'd say the most important aspect of getting started is actually pulling the trigger on your first deal more so than the actual numbers on the deal itself.

Mom and pop shops don't thrive by aping every aspect of the way big businesses operate. 

Simply put, for the context of this post, prospects consist of a broad audience or group of people who match your pre-defined criteria, and leads are prospects who actually qualify for your services.