I am a Zamboni driver who always wanted to invest in real estate. I bought my 1st duplex in 94 when I didn't have any idea what I was doing. I learned on the fly. I bought my 2nd property (6plex) in 2010. Started a company with a buddy in 2011 and proceeded to buy 2 student rentals and 2 condos in 4 yrs. I don't believe in Mutual Funds for retirement and don't know enough about stocks so I gravitated to real estate. Biggest hurdles were learning how to finance all of my/our purchases. They don't teach you that sort of stuff in school. We took real estate courses and learned from professional real estate investors how to do what we wanted to do.
My wife was worried I was going to bankrupt us so I started up a company for us and a company with my business partner to protect us personally. We tried flipping houses in Florida when the dollar was at par and ran into a bad realtor who lost us money. We didn't do enough due diligence on him or the guy that recommended him to us. Trust your gut instincts! The single biggest influential factor was believing in ourselves when nobody else did. We gutted a house completely, had no income coming in and owed a lot of money to an investor. That was very stressful! We believed in ourselves and that property turned into a cash flowing machine!! Seek out a mentor or coach to fast track your success. It will cost you money up front, but could save you thousands down the road. It will also allow you to bounce ideas and questions onto somebody who knows more than you do. Co-owner of A.i. properties Inc.