Read the book Rhinoceros success, Dale Carnegie's How to win friends and influence people, and the book "The Go-Getter".

I think I'd recommend it for new people such as myself as well in addition to the essentials (How to Win Friends and Influence People, Think and Grow Rich, Art of War, etc.).

Many factors influence the results such as the market that they are in.

Also, your long term goals/strategy influence what to do and when and at what cost/risk.HELOC's are very hard (in my experience) to get on a non-owner occupied. 

I also hear from many other real estate agents that it is brutal and hard to get leads unless their "circle of influence" needs help from a them.

Ben, the first key IMO is getting the word out to your sphere of influence that you're in RE when you get licensed, and ask them who they know that may be buying or selling in the next 6 months. 

I think it’s a matter of political influence and of course private capital. 

I dont deal with them directly of course .. but i have influence from my lender standpoint..

The greater Miami area has much more room to run, but South Beach in particular is built-out.In my opinion, you can't go wrong buying on the Beach, as demand is strong for a variety of factors (seasonal US demand, year-round European demand, and structural economical influences in South America).Let me know if you'd like to talk through it; in the meantime, good luck.Jason

Hello All,My wife and I are looking to relocate in about 5 years or so, and we'd like to move to a state that would positively affect establishing a RE buy-and-hold portfolio.I realize that landlord-tenant laws is one element that would influence our relative success, but I also imagine there are others - such as taxes on income from real estate, property/zoning laws, small business laws, etc.Since we aren't real estate investors (YET!)