But if you have a little money to invest, then skip-tracing and contacting property owners is another method. 

I've bought numerous properties with none of my own money - but you have to work to find these deals and make a lot of offers, and hear a lot of no's.

If investors do not account for this the likely hood is that they are losing money and the property investment is a waste of both time and effort to hold. 

Between the 20k and the money I know I will put in to renovate the house it feels a bit overwhelming.

What's the best way to get involve in it to get some experience without burning much money? 

Creative deals are negotiated by educated investors.You can make more money from knowledge vs having ones own cash. 

Good PM's can be hard to find but the right one is always worth the money because you avoid headaches and your property will usually perform better than when it's self managed by someone without experience.Hope this helps!

I would love your experiences because my alternative is to spend a ton of money on airdna data! 

I just use the money again. 

Bad foundations were my money-makers.