So, I have read several books and posts on here concerning offsetting income tax with passive loses or depreciation from rental properties, but I am still a little unclear as to how that all works and if I can actually use use rental property losses or depreciation to offset my house flipping taxes. 

Read some books from the BP library and listen to some podcasts.

Been gathering as much information as possible, reading books, listening to podcasts, and attending REI meetings.

https://www.coachcarson.com/big-shifts-ahead/Above is a good article and book review from Chad Carson, a BP blogger, on demographic shifts. 

I enjoy reading and have likely bought and read about 40 books in the last two years.

If you're interested in getting started and learning how to find a niche as a real estate investor, I wrote a book on the subject.

Hello BP community, after hours of education via books, podcasts, and meeting with local investors, I have built my own cashflow spreadsheet and attempted to analyze a random local property on Realtor.com to practice my analysis skills.

However, I was wondering if you have recommendations for books or sites that offer basic to intermediate information for those of us starting out and really trying to establish a good base of knowledge.

Scott wrote The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs check it out in the BP bookstore...

Suggestions on books/website?