Hello @Gina Jackson - I too made excuses for a full decade before I made up my mind to proceed with REI, and things have been great and moved quickly since then.

It's quick and simple profit.

I have flexibility on timing (sort of) but wish to act as quickly as possible. 

Hilda Befterver hi and welcome to the BP community first I'd recommend you reading the ultimate beginners guide http://www.biggerpockets.com/ubg and don't forget to listen to the podcasts...Enjoy

I am a fairly new agent still learning the ropes and while looking at the MLS data for my area for turnover rates, all the peak turnover areas around me are HEAVILY farmed already, but i found 2 that had great turnover numbers for over 5+ years compared to other areas and not one single agent in the area had more than 10% of the sales, but when i drove out to see the areas i found out quickly that both are gated communities with no soliciting signs everywhere... 

@Thomas ManningAdding to what Bram suggested above, you may want to go through the Ultimate Beginner's Guide here on BP (link).

Hi @Rick DoctorThe 2%, 1% or 0.8% rules are rules of thumb, something that allows you to determine quickly if a property is worth looking into further. 

Make sure to read the Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

Sorry for the long list, but I wanted to make it as quick of a read as possible!  

If anyone has any information on where we can do some research to find out which neighborhoods are "hot" or moving pretty quickly, we would really appreciate any advice!