I'm Karl Szymanski from Pittsburgh PA and I am new to real estate investing.

They claim you need seed money of $25k to join, however, after they take 8000, and the accountant whom they recommend takes $1800.00 upfront for setting up an LLC, the amount you are left with is not enough to invest.

The reason is, the original farm house + 5 acres in the 60’s was occupied by a group of 5 families that were into some strange kind of “natural living “ they only ate a few kinds of fruits and seeds.

You have to just commit to doing the lead generation 5-6 days a week (social posts, door knocking, talk to people you know, talk to people you don't know, host open houses for agents in your office, drive for FSBO's, etc) until you have planted so many "seeds" that they result in business. 

Pittsburgh is up and coming but the distance is pretty far from the others.

@Sean Grabow you can look up @Josh Caldwell from the Pittsburgh Reia group.

-with that said, yes, people are definitely 'overpaying' for distressed properties. i just got outbid on one the other day here in Pittsburgh. 

From Pittsburgh to Indianapolis you have some nice beginner markets. 

Paying taxes on the seed rather than the crop. 

You can also look at converting funds from pre-tax, to Roth IRA accounts, thus paying taxes on the seed so you don't have to pay taxes on gains/growth.