There are a handful of guides I saw on Amazon but never purchased one so I can't recommend any.

How hands-on are you with this?

Most banks holding a REO property on their books act like a faceless bumbling entity that has no idea what its different hands are doing.

I have a first hand experience of these areas investors are interested in!

@Drew PoniewazAs George indicated, location is generally not the primary deciding factor when selecting a provider for a self-directed IRA or 401k based retirement plan.This is a very specialty field, with a handful of providers.There are about 3-4 dozen companies that act as custodians, basically processing the investments you direct them to execute on behalf of your IRA account. 

I can count on one hand the number of cuts I've ever made with my table saw.

Reddit has a great credit repair wiki in the Personal Finance sub forum.I recently disputed a handful of old "dings" and went up about 50 points in a later of weeks. 

When I first started the business in 1998, I soaked up every bit of information I could get my hands on.

On the other hand I do not want to be at risk for going upside down should local/national market conditions take a drastic turn.

You need to start off with deciding if you want to be a passive investor or HANDS ON.