I am new to this site so I apologize if this has been discussed previously. 

Hard to believe that people are still living like this, especially here in my own home state.First Video That Got It All StartedAfter watching that video some friends got to talking and my buddy went down to look at the job site today.

But BP did publish a book that could serve as a good primer to improve your knowledge and get you off to a good start: The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs. 

Crud, that goes on a different site.

I’ve been trying to analyze listings on the usual sites and what I receive from a real estate agent.

What I find is that the banks just want too much money for houses that need too much rehab.Is there some way other investors are getting access to properties that aren't on the MLS, or these common sites I mentioned? 

If you want to do it on your own you will need to use those sorts of sites.

I lived in Midwest City for 4 years while serving in the Air Force.

BiggerPockets is a great site to get started learning about real estate investing.

It seems like a decent prospect for appreciation and cashflow since it's situated between JHU and Penn Station and is the site of a fairly substantial development project (Telesis), but I understand the strength of the deal will be determined by what price and condition I acquire the property at.