This is the one thing you need to do to start investing in real estate

With the housing markets in many states finally starting to slow, many see now as their time to get in on real estate investing.

Many have been anxiously awaiting even the smallest cooldown to do everything from identifying an up-and-coming neighborhood for rentals or buying a vacation property for the summer season to locking in their first mortgage and finally starting to build equity.

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Ryan Serhant of Comcast  (CMCSA) - Get Free Report-owned Bravo series "Million Dollar Listing New York" told TheStreet that would-be investors should think of their real estate agent as a personal "investment advisor" who knows the market and can help find properties that can bring in the most money.

'They're financially incentivized for you to win on the buy,' Serhant tells TheStreet

"Take it slow and do your research right, work with a seasoned professional and treat them as your partner," Serhant told TheStreet in an exclusive video interview. "Maybe they come in on a deal with you, but if they don't, they're financially incentivized for you to win both on the buy and on the potential sell or lease out of the space."

Along with working with a professional, Serhant advises first-time and early investors to not get caught into what may look like a really low price or great opportunity but to take the time to understand the ins and outs of the market.

"I would move to the opposite direction of any trend and just be really, really, really, really smart," Serhant said. "Do it once, make sure it works, and then continue to go from there. The biggest concern for any real estate investor today is probably regulatory changes and different hurdles."

Here is how a change in regulation can 'immediately change' your investment

The above-mentioned hurdles often come down to the laws and regulations that investors coming from another state do not always consider. Serhant says that the strict restrictions on short-term rentals New York City enacted in 2022 are still confusing many wealthy investors coming in from other states and countries.

"If you're an investor and you're banking on those Airbnb  (ABNB) - Get Free Report rates and that ROI and then Florida enacts some sort of regulatory change that says, nope, no more short term leases in the entire state, ... that immediately changes your investment and it will for everybody else that bought for short-term housing reasons," Serhant said.