Hey thanks for looking at my post,I am working on obtaining the knowledge to becoming a successful real estate investor.

I am leaning towards pulling back buying for a moment as I spend more time gaining market knowledge because of this fact.Great negotiating tips as well, I've worked in sales a bit but will add this to my toolbox.

I am very happy to have found this site and am looking forward to soaking in some of the knowledge of the many highly successful people here.

My friends that have seen my work would like to invest on a property or two with me but I really lack all the knowledge I need or know exactly where to start.

I'm not doing due dilligence on this, just off the cuff, is it current enough to get the main idea presented or is it common knowledge without much beef?

There are probably hundreds of how to books but nothing beats real life knowledge and live advice you can get right here.First option which is the best option in my opinion is to keep 100% of the ownership and equity, keep the investor in a lender position, secured with a note and deed of trust which pays investor set interest rate (I typically pay 10%-12%) and you keep all profits.Option 2 would be to give an equity share where lender gets paid interest plus has some % of the equity.

2) Learn as much as you can about different forms of real estate investing3) consider your resources; time, money, knowledge, etc.4) Develop a planIf we now 1 & 3 we can help yo with 4If you know 2 you will understand our advice for 4Good Luck - Ned

The more collective knowledge to share the more we can all learn.

My approach has been and will continue to be a buy and hold strategy spanning core and value added investment approaches.I found BP through Brandon's website Real Estate In Your Twenties (great site Brandon), which I visited while searching for REI book reviews.I'm looking forward to contributing to the community and tapping the wealth of knowledge offered up on the site.Paul

If you are dealing with RE investors, call it what ever you like, it will just show a lack of knowledge, they will see you as a beginner and probably sluff it off.