About 15 days ago I came across an article by Keith Weinhold about how the equity in your home can jump-start real estate investing. That lead to lots of podcasts, and, it seems, all roads lead to "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and BiggerPockets. I'm learning a lot from this from this site, the eBooks, and podcasts and I hope to have at least a first deal done this year.

I'm curious, for your first deal, did you get pre-approved? And, if so, did you go to multiple banks? Did you have better luck with your big bank or a local bank/credit union?