Thank you everyone, if anyone is ever doing a flip in greater Chicago or even Milwaukee and could use an extra pair of free hands, would love to help and just glean information!

Granted this should be icing on the cake from what I have gleaned from reading so far. 

@John Kaspar It never hurts to ask, and as you'll glean if you stick around here long enough, everything is for sale if the price is right.

Please understand I am just starting to make my own way through this journey myself, so I do not wish to come off as some of subject matter expert -- just gleaning what I can get from those that are doing it successfully. 

Also I would suggest that you don't glean the fields. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/glean Make sure it's profitable for the buyer behind you.

Thanks for the info I've gleaned from your posts.

The concept is to not glean the field and leave enough of the crop so as to make it attractive to passerbys.

The articles at the top and on the left of the forum are a great place to glean some real estate nuggets.

I have a lot to learn and look forward to gleaning all I can from this site--and any recommended resources--before I start taking small steps to become my own investor.I'm mostly interested in investing for income as a means of supplementing and diversifying my retirement.

A lot can be gleaned from property records, court records, google maps, etc.Happy New Year!