@Shay SinghAs a first time investor, start with single family rentals. you can buy using turnkey or MLS route.your local area can present opportunities and you can join local REA groups to educate yourself more.Recession in housing market is given and if you are tapping your line of credit as a down payment, you are leveraged to the hilt. to make $4k net a month, you will need to generate $6k after prop mgt fees and keep a cushion of $2k a month for repairs.real estate investing is great but have to acknowledge that repairs are always needed as you scale portfolios.look into midwest and midsouth areas. lot of reputable turnkey providers and realtors on BP. i am sure you will connect to the right source and start your journey.

I honestly dont know enough about preferred returns and equity shares either, which i now know even more i need to educate myself on; its amazing all the different things you can learn and really grow your knowledge in RE, I love it!

How do you tell the difference between the authors that know what they are talking about vs the ones that don’t or just don’t want to put the effort in to writing a comprehensive book on the subject and just give useless philosophical ideas that haven’t been tested?

I'm looking for someone who is willing to develop a long term relationship with me, help educate me on exceeding at owning rental properties.

Doing it poorly will make you not want to get up in the morning, and most landlords do it very poorly.Rather than trying to source and then assemble all the key components of a comprehensive and bulletproof property management system (e.g., lease management, repair management, payment processing, lease renewal management, etc.), find someone who already does that and then let them do their job.That way, you can focus on your job: finding great deals!

I currently do listen to As many podcasts as possible . it's pretty much how i educate myself thus far.     

Can time spent researching/analyzing investment opportunities, traveling to see opportunities and education  be considered as part of the time spent minimums? 

I have always been fascinated with Real Estate and it hasn't escaped me that pretty much all rich people own real property somewhere.I originally had planned to take some time to educate myself further before jumping in, but recent family events have left me in a position that I am being looked at to do something with a family home, so I guess it's time to get on the horse! 

Educate, Educate , Educate lol!

That's why a lot of cities and counties don't want any more mobile home parks now a days, as the parks are typically large drains on education, water utilities and the city/county sees very little back in the form of property tax because they can only tax the land not the homes as the homes are mobile.