Actually it IS cheap if it helps you REALLY get started making money in real estate - and that kind of professional is MUCH less expensive than a $25,000 weekend course which features a bus trip with a smelly long-haired burned-out reality TV star.And you don't want to give 50% of your profits for the next 20 years to some info-marketer based in Phoenix.  

@Joe Gore   Not likely  unless its high end stuff at the other end of the spectrum  where it makes no sense to buy it from an asset manager when you just wait for it to be listed and all the hair is off it then you negotiate for the buy..

The thing you will hear a lot from the grey haired guys in the room at networking events " I wish I had started when I was young"

I watched a webinar with the curly haired guy about 3 months ago and decided to find an off market property.  

Find you a mentor (grey hair person) who will dump all his/her knowledge for the cost of a cup of coffee.  

You can comb through the MLS until you find the right seller who has a property in a great community in need of a rehab and add value and hold for awhile as a short term rental. 

You can split hairs all you want whether its a "business," but what you are doing doesn't raise itself to being an active income source. 

If you do not know any realtors, comb zillow doing the same thing.

I use excel for a lot of things, but to image having to look at a list of 200 and try to manually sift through it to find the correct criteria for a property would have me pulling out the little hair I have left.

I have been learning about real estate for the past 4 years-Listening to BP podcast, reading books, and combing through the forums.