A few tips to get started: focus on networking with local investors, attend meetups or join online forums, and consider reading books like "The Millionaire Real Estate Investor" or "Rich Dad Poor Dad."

But as someone trying to get their first deal, I am not hoping to get a great deal but just an okay deal, which means a cap rate around 6-7% with at least neutral cash flow to start off.

Hello, my name is Angela I am trying to start this journey but I am not sure how to start it. 

In the near term appreciation is not guaranteed, but over a long hold it has been a virtual guarantee as it has occurred for every 12 year period going back to start of price records and the 12 year was the Great Recession. - equity pay down is significant on expensive property.So if using 50% expense ratio, if you are less negative than market rent, you are likely doing better than most local RE investors.  

We have also started using our 401K’s to take loans out to purchase properties.

If you have more than yourself that will need to have access to the CRM to share task or contacts, that's when CRM software starts to make sense.

Do your due diligence on their content first and they will be a good place to start.

I researched all these different corporate structures very in depth when i was starting and now that I look back, I wasted a lot of time trying to "protect" myself from the 1 in a million things instead of just focusing on the main goal of acquiring and operating RE assets.

However, if it happened before your business started, then it is called start-up expenses under Section 195 of the tax code.

I find that converting the property into a duplex is a lengthy and costly process, and I want to start renting it legally without going through a long process, because I've spent for rehabs and don't want to put in more for now.