First words of advice regarding real estate investment?

Troll2009: First words of advice regarding real estate investment?
What are some big first time mistakes that I should avoid? Who are some of the best authors on the subject? Should I really take classes in marketing and advertisement? Most of all, How should i start out? buying a condo or low-income housing and renting it out? Please, if you have experience or first hand knowledge about real estate investment, I would love to hear your take on it and what you wouldv’e done better if given a second chance.

Answers and Views:

Answer by The Mortgage Banker
Work with a good lender and a good real estate agent. Form a team with you’re lender and realtor and let them advise you how to proceed. Discuss you’re idea with a lender and a realtor. Start with a lender since you need to know how much you can buy and what you can afford. Together they will help you start this process and show you how to proceed. It’s a great time to buy!

Please feel free to ask questions. I am a California lender.

Answer by Ranger4402
My advice:

1. If you want to own and manage rental property then read every book you can find on the subject. Owning rental property is far more than waiting for rent checks to show up.

2. Make sure you have a sense for business. By that I mean when you run a business you have to make hard choices because of the bottom line. Businesses are not charities. They exist to make profit. I know a person who got ripped off by one tenant after another for non payment of rent because she felt sorry for these people and refused to evict them. She had no sense for running a business. But, she would be great at running a charity because as a charity, she was great at giving away free stuff like housing.

3. Be very knowledgeable about local zoning laws and building codes. You may wish to tear down an old house and build a showcase 5,000 square foot home on the lot. But, the local zoning laws might not allow you to build a home that large. Be very aware of the laws on everything.

4. Never ever buy any real estate without having an Inspection completed.