Starting out on my own!

I am very new to this whole process of REI and am still fairly nervous about everything but am starting to get a feel for what needs to be done. My family has been doing re-habs and rental homes for many years and I have been involved in this process: looking for prospects, tearing down & rebuilding, finding and screening renters, etc. but have never done anything on my own. I have been trying to encourage my family to try some of the methods that Dean talks about in his books but am, of course, told that he doesn't know what he's talking about and suckered me out of my money for the books! I don't believe that and see REAL possibilities with these methods so I have decided to try this on my own! Maybe when they see that I am making money, they will come around, maybe not. They are very conventional and believe in "old school" methods- none of which are making them rich!

I plan to do some bird dogging for people who actually know what they are doing and hopefully transition into wholesaling. I am working on building my confidence and fighting to believe my "gut feeling" that this is a real opportunity for me to turn my life around and not a well-laid scam as I'm being told!

Would love to hear from anybody who can lend me some advise or support in any way and hopefully can meet some people who will help me on my way to becoming a serious real estate investor!