Although your reasons for going through the courses may be different than most, I do believe it may be worthwhile.

I appreciate your response and it is cool to understand how certain decisions can make a deal worthwhile in this industry.

It is not worthwhile to do buy and fix unless you capture significant amounts of equity. 

My biggest concern is whether Dallas market margins on my target area are so thin that a wholsellers desired profit would cut too much into my ROI to make it worthwhile.  

But, it may be worthwhile to bring it to local banks and lenders as well, what do you think?

Might be more worthwhile to negotiate a MUCH lower price on the property instead to account for cost of repairs.2) Assuming somehow issue #1 is resolved and FHA clears the purchase: I am new to the area, and am not sure what the costs will come out to, but my hope is <$5-6k initially as I start my investment mostly replacing windows and painting (I’m told always to expect to pay more).

then you're increasing your net worth while creating long term wealth. 

Retaining long term tenants like that is worthwhile in my opinion if they take excellent care of the property but within reason in relationship to market rents.

@Aaron Luker The Planet Money podcast is consistently outstanding.Another very worthwhile podcast that's not quite personal finance but has a lot of useful insight into what's happening with tech is from Andreesen-Horowitz, and there's often clear implications for the wider economy (and various sectors like real estate). 

And decide if it's worthwhile for you in terms of costs.