I also used a few credit cards and a 401k loan which is what contributed to my holding costs.

Someone brand new to this site should start listening to the podcasts, subscribe to the newsletter, and start reading through The Ultimate Beginner's Guide  https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investin...You'll get lots more actionable tip ideas once you start going through those resources. 

They are way overpriced, the classes don’t give you enough information and they try to upsell you a coaching program to counterbalance the incomplete course.I know this because when we started I maxed out two credit cards to take one of those $11,000 courses.Later, at my local Real Estate Investor Association, I learned a good course should only run around $500.

Have good credit (825) last it was checked, and have about 40k equity in my home.

I ran the Transunion SmartMove background check with credit report, criminal history, and eviction report and it came back clean, but had to reject two other applicants after their SmartMove scores came back low for low credit scores and numerous pre-eviction filings at local courts.  

Do you guys have any tips or lessons for a newbie in this business?

I am going to start mailing to my FARM but I want to know if anyone has any tips to meet new people!

Need to understand your credit, experience and liquidity.

@Matt Turbitt thanks for the tip, I will look into HUD's (because I don't know yet if we have many here) but it's a great tip.

My partner and I both have good credit and good jobs at major financial services firms but limited capital.