I will dive right into it TODAY!!!!! 

HI Tony, A few options might include:Private lending;partnerships, including with your team, manager, REI club members, people with more capital than time;hard money;self-directing IRA money;owner financing;wholesaling...There are a lot of resources, books and podcasts on this topic - I'm sure as you dig deeper you'll identify the option that makes the most sense for you. 

I'm interested to learn more about the math behind the deals and really dive into it so I can better understand what makes REI work.3.

I owned a few houses before the market crashed and I'm finally ready to dive back in. 

My question is the following: What would you recommend be my first steps to take to really dive deep into this sort of real estate?

When you put yourself between a seller and another end buyer you are trying to sell to, it can be a really tight fit, especially if you can't buy it as required.Go deeper in your learning, what is on the surface as some ploy can be a train wreck in reality.

He may have difficulty putting up the down payment, closing costs, etc.. which would put him in a deeper hole.Maybe the best way to go about it is to help him get his finances in order first and then talk about home ownership again down the road when he is in a better place.Just my .02

Any advice on how much I should save up before diving in?

Dive on in to the forums and podcasts head first.

I have no background in Real Estate, but my whole career has been around enterprise sales for the tech industry.After spending a long time reading up on Real Estate Wholesale (I wanted to make sure i really wanted to do this), I am now ready to dive into this industry.