Saw a house with a For Sale by Owner sign in a yard with tall grass and after some drama, we have a house.We have dealt with long term rentals for over 15 years, but not aggressively ( keep them rented and do some improvements ).This "old house" needs, updated HVAC, new roof, new kitchen, some broken windows, upgraded electrical, water run off issues...I'm just starting to clear the house out with multiple dumpsters and starting to get quotes.  

Specifically, I would love to hear about:1.First Steps: What are the most critical first steps I should take to get started in real estate investing?

5) Consider meeting with a few agents in your area even if you are just getting started!

You can buy a turn key or a flooring and paint property to start. 

But, to start with, my first course of action shall be to partner in a house hack type deal.

I am new to this so I am running out of ideas but in reality to start living together we need a 4 bd house for our 3 kids and a bunch of pets so we know it would be a house around $800K until we can make more money from our jobs and side hustles.

Best to have a month to month lease or one with a start and end date if you want them to leave on a specific date, that lets you move to eviction if they don't pay.

I am nervous that starting eviction for nonpayment would drag out her leaving and end up costing me more money in the long run. 

I’m anxious to get started on my real estate journey. 

I don't know how much your loans are but you will need dollar for dollar in income just to get back to zero starting point with installment loans, i.e. if your monthly income is $3k and your loans are $1k you're going to be starting from a point of $2k income before any other expenses.