Brand new wanna be investor in Orlando FL that has been reading books and game planning with girlfriend partner.  

A college student looking to get in the game early I'm saving up to get my first rental but I want to give private money a shot to get it done quicker, but then again with this market I also feel I should wait.

We do it for our clients all the time.But an OOS investor should be careful as there are so many ways they can get taken advantage of:1) Buying the wrong property, wrong location, etc2) Being overcharged because there's no transparency on actual costs and budget3) Shoddy work because no pics/video are supplied4) Crappy tenants are placed that destroy the rennovationsNone of the above are discovered until an owner goes to refinance the property or sell it.What should an investor do to protect themselves?

I’ve been in the game for nine years and I believe real estate is my end game.

add a real estate license to your game and go get into that community  tons of agents lenders inspectors  title and escrow etc. plus it will help you increase your earnings doing what your already doing.

So I’m wondering, as well as my initial work getting the deal should I have more skin in the game.?

I checked my credit score a few months later and it had gone from 750 to 620.....they don't feel you're a good risk if you are debt free I guess.....It's all a big con game anyway.On the other hand, $215 a month is not a huge amount in the game you're playing anyway.....you can make it up somewhere..

I know there are folks here that say anytime is ok to buy, because market appreciation will get the price back up and at least you're in the game.

It's just a slightly different game. 

Thats something you probably knew but focusing on that instead of the end game might help you avoid analysis paralysis.