Learn all you can. Consider attending a seminar or talking with individuals who are experienced in real estate investing. Look for people in your area or search for investor information on your favorite search engine.

Before committing your cash, you should have a fundamental understanding of real estate. For example, be aware that, in general, investment properties are not liquid investments. Barring exceptional circumstances, real estate does not sell at a moment's notice. It could take days or months to sell a property, depending on strength of your local market conditions.

Consider your financial goals. It is possible to make a lot of money. However, you need to determine how hard you are going to work to do it, and how long you intend to keep each property. With each investment unit, you'll need to take into account cash flow, appreciation, equity, and depreciation. Talk with your accountant about tax liabilities and benefits.

Consider cash flow. You'll need to have enough capital on hand to cover any short-term losses due to vacancies between tenants, repairs, property management, taxes, mortgage, etc.

Start small. Look into buying a single family home or a duplex. Leave large apartment buildings and commercial properties to professionals.

Inquire at your local Chamber of Commerce about companies relocating into or out of area. Company movement is one indicator of demand for rental and/or office space.

Each year billions of dollars in credit fraud is perpetrated on unsuspecting citizens. With so much personal information publicly available (or easily available to someone with medium computing skills) it is essential to develop good habits to prevent your information from falling into criminal hands. It is possible for someone to create an entire identity (get driver's license, etc.) based on just a few pieces of information.

I know of an employee who sustained an on-the-job injury then applied for disability. He was shocked when they turned him down. According to Workmen's Compensation records he had been collecting disability for last year and a half. Someone had gotten their hands on enough information to drain his account!

It can take years and thousands of dollars to correct an identity theft, credit fraud or a simple key entry error by a clerk at a Credit Bureau. It takes minutes for you to do these simple tips:

Destroy all pre-approved credit offers you get in mail before you discard them. Otherwise, someone can fill out a new address and get credit in your name. Use a paper-shredder for all documents with your financial or legal information included. Sign all your credit cards with 'Please ask for photo ID' instead of your signature.