I am most interested in local listings and any pocket listings you might discover.

I have also read up on some BP wholesaling articles but the studying continues!

@John Montgomery Congrats on getting close to negotiating your first deal...I would say the most important thing is to "know your objective"...There are a lot of great answers on this thread, but ultimately we are all making "shots in the dark" as to the best option for you because it's our perspective...This is still valuable, but can become very confusing because you don't know each person's perspective...MY Suggestion is to know your goal over the next 3-5 years...I will let you know a little about my perspective...I am a Rehabber and Have Been Buying and Rehabbing over the past 8 years here in Chicago...I've been in your shoes...I wanted to be the Big Shot and rehab deals straight out the gate(Little to No Money & No Experience but a few REI Boot Camps- basically No Experience)...To say I've had a lot of Failures during my 14 years of being involved in studying REI is an Understatement...If I was starting all over again, and my objective is to be able to build a robust REI Biz that can allow me to rehab 6-12 homes a year, wholesale 2-3 properties per month, and build a rental portfolio...I would first focus on getting good at one objective first...Generally most people start out wholesaling because it doesn't require the money or experience rehabbing or landlording requires...I would start with Wholesaling...go find 5-10 very good rehabbers and find out their Criteria for a Great Deal...Commit to building Value for them and ultimately a great relationship.With this you will already have buyers lined up, you know what areas to look for properties in, and you can research public record and see what they are paying for properties on the acquisition(and also ask them, but keep them honest by researching public record)...At this point become the best wholesaler to these rehabbers...you will learn a lot just in this process alone...How to evaluate Comps, Repair Values, Neighborhoods, etc...Which a great wholesaler will know how to do...It will make your deals easier to sell...Ultimately I would see which one of these Rehabber will be open to the idea of partnering/mentoring me on how to get into that arena...They may even allow you to follow the progress of their deals...Every deal has its surprises and over the course of 10-20 deals you will get a real life idea of what those surprises are, and even understand the "reason why" you calculate certain contingencies into deals and also what are the most costly mistakes or repairs to look for and avoid on deals...The value of this Experience will accelerate your learning curve...In my experience one mistake for a beginner can cost you a ton of money and even put you out of the rehab business.There is no way you can learn all the mistakes you must avoid by reading a book or taking a 3-day training program. 

just wanted to introduce myself, Im just starting out in the real estate world, currently studying to become a broker (done in 5 months) and I am here to get all the advice and help I can! 

Christina Suter (www.GroundLevel-Consulting.com) as well as Bruce Norton study the markets and they can offer a lot more insight.

However, after speaking with a mortgage broker we discovered our current approved amount is lower than expected due to the ownership of our current residence.

The only reason they couldn't close is if they have a title problem they discover, and each time that has happened, I negotiate a further discount to close with title problem in place and I fix it myself.

I'm a real estate agent in the area and the interest in duplex seems to be spiking this summer, thought that is just based on my recent clients who have been after duplexes.For local networking, I recently discovered a local meetup group that meets at the El Chico restaurant twice a month for lunch, though I have not had a chance to attend myself yet. 

You will not be able to know a good deal until you have really studied the market. 

REally depends on the depth of the information and how much they charge.I like to tell folks that one of the best ways to start if its fix and flip you want to do is1. study and get a RE license  go to C 21 or many other brokers that will pay for the training if you just hang your license with them.