Good way to start residential RE investing learning?

Look for "Real Estate Investor Association" in your city (called REIAs), they are like clubs of local investors. I think they can be filled with get rich quick guru followers, but also legit resi investors (landlords/rehabbers/etc.). but you can meet real people and they often do "training" that is a fraction of the cost of the "gurus". 

Personally, I've come to view that world as scammy in general, but it is still a legit business if you want to do it. 

Just start reading books, listening to podcasts, and educating yourself on personal finance basics. Good resources to get you started:

- BiggerPockets (Podcast & Bookstore), I recommend J Scott's book.

- Financial Samurai (Blog)

- Any of the "FIRE" (financial independence retire early) podcasts like Radical Personal Finance, ChooseFI are pretty good, but have limited info on RE.

Happy to answer any questions on the residential financing side. I have purchased a few units (single families and 2-units) and am a full time lender on 1-4 units.

Read my comment that I recently posted here: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/investing-1-2mm-for-family-best-…

I sort of invest in the space you're referring too but at a more experienced level. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or if you need any more advice.

As I've mentioned in my post, I think reading and watching youtube videos is less useful than actually going out and researching your market. Plenty of non-finance people invest in real estate. The way they look at it is "If I invest $200,000 into a property and in return each month I receive $1,000 net of expenses and mortgage payments, then I make 6% return on my investment each year, exclusive of all the tax benefits of owning property and potential appreciation (if you pick the right location), sounds like a solid deal." (or not a solid deal in which case you move on). In terms of finding the "right location," go talk to agents to get an idea of where the up & coming/hot areas are and also ask yourself the simple question of "would I live here and raise a family here." If the answer is yes, then chances are that others will feel the same way. This is all assuming you are investing in a high COL area. I can't really speak to investing in low COL areas. I briefly looked at housing prices in Houston and personally, I wouldn't invest there. There was so much supply of basically the same product; however, because prices in those markets are so low, but rents can be quite decent, you could potentially see 15%+ returns, but on the resale your property may sell for the same price or even less than what you bought it for

Best way to learn is to buy something within a reasonable distance from where you live that can cash flow and go in on it. Start by learning to fix small things and managing tenants. 
 

Also bigger pockets is not where you want to look for any real advice. I don’t think the majority of landlords on that site make any money in this business assuming they follow their own advice.