In general, could you enlighten me on the terms of private lending?

Reading this book, along with my own research, has been an enlightening experience in showing me the opportunities of investing, specifically in real estate.

i have a few questions and im hoping some one can enlighten me a bit or at least point me in the right direction. my name is Gerardo im fairly new to RE and BiggerPockets for that matter. i reside in newark nj and im in law enforcement. i have recently decided to create as a goal 10k in passive income within the next 11 years to supplement my pension. at that time both of my children will be headed into college and id like to be able to rely on just the police and fire pension sysytem. i want to that by using the buy and hold method.my first question is though i currently dont have a huge amount of cash (im saving a lot though) do i utalize an FHA loan even though pmi will be attached making cashflow that much less or do i sacrafice passing up on deals untill have enough for a 20% down of some kind? 

Can someone enlighten me?

@Jay Hinrichs - congratulations on topping the 8000 post number - the BP membership hopefully feels the same as I do, that your sharing of years of experience is enlightening, educational, helpful and quite beneficial.

Luca, that is a great website...Thank you so much for the info, it is very enlightening.

It's a very entertaining and enlightening read.

Please enlighten me as to some of the pitfalls, timelines and complications that I do not appreciate

Being a know-it-all, you should know how everyone operates so please enlighten us.

But I eventually went through a enlightenment where it comes to debt.