I think I'll definitely be picking your brain more.

Most Brooklyn guys have moved on to the Bronx after picking Brooklyn dry so keep your eyes open about that borough as well.

At least with a duplex, you may be able to pick up a single family home that rents for around $700ish.In the meantime I suggest giving Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods. a read.

I just wanted to pick your brain because that's what I'm aspiring to do.

@Eugene Lee  those rules were spawned out of the Great GFC... not germane to todays markets in most areas.you can though still buy in areas were there is more housing than people to use the housing and find those rules apply and even more.. those are what we call cash flow markets that's all they are all they will ever be ( in most likelihood) so if your going to invest there only reason to do it is to hit those 2% or better metricswhere we reside on the West coast we generally look for break even and make our big bucks on having our tenants pay down our debts and of course appreciation... you have most folks that live in the non appreciating markets and their mantra is  ( cash flow cash flow appreciation is only luck its not investing  LOL)  and you have those that have gotten stupid wealthy buying west coast assets that double or tripled in value in a 10 year time frame.. take your pick..

If you're local to us, we'd love to buy you a cup of coffee and pick your brain about wholesaling, flipping or landlording.

Read books on investing in real estate, listen to the podcasts, attend webinars and stay active on the forums while connecting with other investors in your area and pick a niche.

Well it was recommended to me to pick up a used real estate agent book in order to learn about real estate.

Recently picked up The Millionaire Real Estate Investor and I'm excited to get started with my first rental property :)I'd love to connect with anyone in Chicago or anyone who's also on the path to their first property.

My advice is to pick a strategy and learn in incremental steps.