Im looking into purchasing my first rental property and want to learn a little more about it before I dive in.

If you've ever seen an insurance company investigate a large property claim, you'll know what I mean, they'll dig as deep as they have to and God forbid if someone is injured or killed, then the police/fire dept's will be looking too. 

You can't payoff a $35K loan with a decent interest rate in 3 or 5 years making payments alone, you'll be in a deep hole each month. 

I've always had an interest in REI (my dad does it, and i purchased my first home at 21 and made a 6 figure profit 3 years later) ...so now i'm wanting to really dive in from an investment standpoint.

There was a line of people 100 deep waiting to get up there for a photo but I eventually got mine up there too.

We did a trip to Memphis and I was ready to dive in but decided to slow down a little and start with a local flip with the guys to get our feet wet.

Hello,Bobbie Johnson here, looking to dive more into the housing market.

It's really good sign that you were in fact wise enough to stop, take a deep breathe and ask for advice before jumping off the cliff.That said, you sound like you're on a terrific track already.

Take your time and get your bearings first before jumping in too deep--the right opportunity will find you.

Use your motivation and try to learn as much as you can here; the forums have a lot of information, as do the blogs, and there are a lot of lists and posts about great books you can dive into.If you can find a property management company to work for you'll learn from the ground up, which I think is far more valuable than trying to come in top-down.