depends on what your trying to do.and where your at financially and time available.the folks that fall for the you too can retire even though you have no money and real estate can be done with others money.. while true.. rarely true for a beginner even one who graduated the class.. you simply lack real time experience.To me those that get the most out of mentoring have the ability to transact with their own funds and credit.. 

The paycheck many times over the national average of households, 30-35 hour work week and ability to help others/make a positive impact in the country make it an absolute recommended profession in my book. 

Rent to property value must be a minimum 1% preferably higher otherwise I do not bother looking. 50% guide line is considered as rough estimate as well when knowing debt repayment amount.Prefer a minimum $200/door anticipated cash flowLook at ability to purchase vacant since we are in a rent control market and can not raise rents.

Still reading/learning all about it and would really like to meet an experienced investor who would like to leverage our capital/wife's birddogging ability to get some deals going.  

I thought all you needed was a pile of cash and the ability to swing a hammer!

NYC has VERY specialized rules for this sort of thing, and some of them defy logic in the favor-ability of tenants.  

We are primarily interested because of the ability for property investment. 

Once you've determined your comfort level and ability to close a deal, start watching the market and asking about deals that your new friends are doing.  

I know there are some Property Management Software out there that have the built in ability to perform tenant screening, but I am a beginning investor that is not looking to invest in an expensive software. 

It sounds like there's still the ability to do a deal, just gotta be a little more careful.