Newbie from Aurora, Colorado

[John Baker]

Good day everyone!  I have been reading books on real estate investing for over a year.  I have been trying my hand at pre foreclosures, without much success.  My initial goal is to get out of debt and be financially secure.  

I look forward to digging in here and reading and learning.  Your pointers/direction are greatly appreciated.

[Mindy Jensen]

Welcome to BiggerPockets, @John Baker. I'm just up the road in Longmont.

I would start here. Kind of a welcome to the site.

Next, listen to the Podcasts. They come out every Thursday, and in addition to being very entertaining, also provide a lot of information about different kinds of investment, through the eyes of someone who has been there and already made the mistakes for you. 

Check out the Blog, too. You have already found the forums, another great source of information. The amount of sharing here is fantastic. 

Have you thought about what type of investing you want to get into, other than preforclosures? Colorado is a pretty solid market right now, and the number of foreclosures is almost zero. I do have a friend who just bought in Arvada and even in just a few months prices have risen 25-35% in her complex.