I recently self-published my first novel back in May, and the entire process of being a self-starting entrepreneur has lit a serious fire in me.

This is my first "official" jump into the REI business and I'm really looking forward to what the future holds.I've spent the last 15+ years working working the Educational Publishing world and I've finally scratched and clawed my way out of that business and I'm looking forward to this next chapter.  

A great chef may publish a recipe, but that chef always leaves out a key ingredient or two.You are going to pay for the training either way: either through mistakes you make trying to discover those missing ingredients on your own through a series of flops, or paying a pro to share those secret ingredients with you. 

It has recently (last year) been published that the economic immigration programs have been a relative failure.  

I'm currently in the publishing world, and I would like to begin investing in real estate.

@Aleksandra DrawsDisclaimer- I do not know the area but here is how I would evaluate an area I was not familiar with :-Zillow is basically worthless in Texas as we are a non-disclosure state so sales prices are not published- George gave you some valuable comps from the MLS. 

IMO, that can be detrimental to the foreclosing lender, because if the lender is willing to let a property go for far less than the published debt - many bidders would just ignore the property that is over-encumbered compared to market value.

Start out with the podcasts, and all the free books biggerpockets has published and read/search the forums.

The official website for the MLS in the Kansas City Metro area is http://heartlandmls.com/  It will tell you all about the benefits as a Realtor in the KC Metro of joining Hearland MLS.But if you really want to learn more about being a Realtor in Kansas City and joining the Heartland MLS, I recommend going to www.KCRAR.com the local board of realtors.Now if you want to search for listed properties in the Kansas City Metro area or any other city or state in the US - there is a nationwide site that all Realtors publish their listings on and that is www.Realtor.comAlthough note that when you see a property you like and you attempt to contact the listing agent, you are going to get the agent who actually purchased that zip code from Realtor.com who  will want to be your buyers' agent.  

I own a brokerage here in Ft Lauderdale and can relate to you as well...Here's my story in a blog that was published here.https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/7103/blog_post...Let me know if you need anything Nick, thanks for the warm welcome.