Where do I begin? I hear blender is better in the realm of character modeling, is this true? I don't have the time to learn so many programs unfortunately.

Houdini is capable of Modeling, Rigging, Animation and Character FX, but each of these are massive areas.
depending on the type of characters you want to make - many people use a sculpting program like zBrush/3DCoat, then build a reduced polygon version for rigging/animation.
It would be best to narrow your focus when starting out.
But Houdini can do all these things.

goldfarb
Houdini is capable of Modeling, Rigging, Animation and Character FX, but each of these are massive areas.
depending on the type of characters you want to make - many people use a sculpting program like zBrush/3DCoat, then build a reduced polygon version for rigging/animation.
It would be best to narrow your focus when starting out.
But Houdini can do all these things.

I see… when you say narrow when i'm just starting out. What do you propose? Sorry i'm a complete noob

I want to make realistic characters

creating a realistic character can require a great deal of work in a number of different areas - modeling, shading/texturing, rigging, animation etc.
if you are very new to 3D then you're trying to do far too much before you learn the basics. After that you might find that you're better at some things more than others - or that you really don't like doing some of the tasks. So get the basics down. Doing that will give you a taste of the different types of work in 3D.

goldfarb
creating a realistic character can require a great deal of work in a number of different areas - modeling, shading/texturing, rigging, animation etc.
if you are very new to 3D then you're trying to do far too much before you learn the basics. After that you might find that you're better at some things more than others - or that you really don't like doing some of the tasks. So get the basics down. Doing that will give you a taste of the different types of work in 3D.

I see… hard to swallow… I will do that then.. Do you propose blender or zbrush would be best for this?

if you're asking what application I'd recommend for ‘sculpting realistic characters’ then zBrush is the current industry standard. If you're asking about also taking that finished sculpt and actually using it for anything beyond rendering a still image - I'd say zBrush + Houdini.