And when there are bumps in the road, and believe us, there will be, ask for help, don't just give up. If you just give up, you'll never know what you could have accomplished. Think of the bumps as challenges, and learn from the bumps rather than just giving up. Nothing comes easy. You are not going to be a millionaire by next week (unless you win the lottery), it is not going to work on auto pilot, you need to stoke it and help it grow.
Step 1 is always to determine the fair market value(FMV). As a real estate investor, you can always buy properties at the FMV. My question is why would anybody want to do that? Through careful selection, you can always find properties that are priced below FMV, regardless if they are existing or if they are a preconstruction project. The best way to determine FMV is to work with someone already familiar with the area or determine yourself through local websites showing recent sales histories.
My experience is that most new investors don't fail at investing... they fail at marketing. Marketing is how you sell you skill as an investor and find enough motivated sellers to keep the cash rolling in.
You can use billboards, flyers, telephone calls, door to door canvassing, bandit signs, newspaper ads, Web sites, direct mail... or any combination. If you don't use good marketing every week of the year your chances of becoming a successful investors are minimal.