There are so many angles of "Real Estate Investing" that it's hard to answer your question. I'd start by learning, learning and learning... at the same time start meeting people at your local investor clubs. Figure out what you want/like to do. I refuse to buy or pay for any of those guru seminars and boot camps. Perhaps I'm missing out, but the last thing I want to do is to get into the "get rich quick" mindset. I have spent a little bit of time on a couple of forums. I can't comment on whether these are the best or worst on the net, but I certainly learned a few things from browsing around.:
Real Estate Investing Forums | BiggerPockets.com
Magic Bullets in Real Estate
I'm pretty new to the business. I started meeting people and started my LLC back in the fall of '06. I bought my first rental in October '07 and am rehabbing my second right now. My plan is to buy, rehab and hold. I don't want to have any more than 70% LTV when I'm done with each project. I want to do all of that using REAL appraisals, not the inflated ones that you can always find someone to do.
I'd say money is going to be your biggest hurtle. Today's lending environment is tough because banks have put themselves into a position where they are getting screwed from every direction. I have 800+ credit and on my current rehab project the bank was only willing to do a 6 month interest only note for 90% of the purchase price, which was 56% of the ARV (after repair value), plus I have to fund the $20k rehab myself. Once I'm finished with the rehab, they will refi the property up to 75% of the appraisal for my conventional mortgage. This differs GREATLY from even a year ago with the same bank as they used to loan 80% of the ARV and the repair costs were disbursed as needed. They currently WILL NOT give me a loan if I say I'm going to flip it. They understand my goal is to rent it out and expect me to stick to it.
You can always use hard money lenders instead of banks, but it's EXPENSIVE money.
One other thing. People alyways think they can get in without "using their own money". That may be true (I didn't go to that seminar), but you will be risking other people's money and for me, that will still affect how I sleep at night. In my experience, you will need money to "prime the pump" so to speak. In other words, I have had to inject pretty significant money to get this whole thing going. I needed money to start the LLC. I need money for down payments and closing costs for each job. I need money for holding costs. I need money for repairs. I need money to pay my lawyer and my accountant. But as each project finishes up I am able to pay myself back bit by bit.
Good Luck! Slow and steady wins the race.