What are the exact steps in investing in real estate for an 18 year old who lives in Dallas, Texas and has only 5,000 to invest in?

I start investing real estate by renting a house to a family. Since then, more and more...

If I could go back to many years ago, and if my age is young like you, I would go through these steps:

1. Find a stable W-2 jobs, save as much money as I can.

2. After having 2 years of W-2 job history, purchase a 4-plex using FHA loan with 3.5% down payment. You live in one of the units, and rent out the other 3 units.

@Hector Gonzalez

Since you are so young, work on building up your w-2 income. Or make sure that someone in your family who is interested in real estate has a stable w-2 income. This will make you financeable. Then with that $5000 you can buy a rental property and rent it out and make some cash flow. From there collect your rents and use that money as well as money from working at a job save as much as you can to buy more and more. 

I agree with the others. Save your money. The first is always the worst in that the first will (generally) require your capital since you're just starting out. I only bought one place so far earlier this year but I'm looking at buying more and adding that additional source of income will only speed up the time to build enough capital for the next place. At least that's my plan.

I've answered this a thousand times when asked.

You get started by starting. There are no secrets. What everyone has done or is doing is well documented. I'm doing the same thing I did when I started 10 years ago. Just larger deals.

Upside to people starting now is financing is sooooo much easier. The dirty stuff I had to do to get a loan back in the day... let's just say I'm not proud! ;)

This might sound like a very dumb question but what is a W-2 job?

A job with an employer. You work for someone else (not yourself). If you're an employee, you receive a W-2. As a W-2 employee, payroll taxes are automatically deducted from your paycheck and then paid to the government through your employer.