Every tool and resource imaginable is available, all a person has to do is ask or turn it on. 

The biggest benefit i got from bigger pockets were the property analysis tools.

@James Wachob recently published a very informative video identifying online tools to evaluate investment properties.

@Kevin Klaas, welcome to the post analysis paralysis phase...PM me on the estimating repairs, I might have a tool or two that may help demystify some of that

. * Data drive buying with Comparative Market Analysis from tools like CloudCMA and Realist.Also, would one still be within legal guidelines of the commission if the ad for a realtor is posted without the picture of the agent, or is pasting the picture of the agent in ad a mandatory requirement. 

Books are an important tool in gaining the initial foundation of knowledge but nobody learned to swim by reading a book.

Finally, BP has various tools available to help you analyze your deals (rental, flips, wholesale, etc), feel free to use them: https://www.biggerpockets.com/investment-calculators Please let me know if I can help, and best of luck!

I'd rather track my money movement with a tool like Stessa and have the properties feeding into the same account to keep my head right.You're thinking well about that downpayment money . . . getting a 1% APY on it and maintaining full liquidity fits the bill when you're looking to deploy that money in a purchase in the near future. 

But it is an all-in-one system that does everything from the lists to the cards to the callbacks to the getting sellers on the phone, the CRM, etc.

A good tool is "BP calculators" and just talking with people in a market your interested in.After you answer those questions it will help you identify where you personally wouldn't want to invest.