It is tough to get people to return phone calls and you sometimes need to go down to the office to get things straightened out. 

@David White PSI testing has a list of test practice material on their website.

I've found the podcasts and BP materials to be fantastic.

this has been a question for many years, people have invested only to see it fail, but you do see some areas that do embrace it. its very tough to bring back an area that is falling or has fallen.

Brandon,Good luck on BP lots of good material here.

@Steven Duck  what you describe the most likely way you would get started is simply with private money IE mom and dad aunt and uncle  good friend from child hood etc.seasoned investors would be a pretty tough go for some one with no capital and no experience.Suggestions:Now I know Minden is a small market but Reno is not... get a RE license go to work for a commercial broker ( part time if you can) and learn the business the right way.. by being around seasoned pro's who actually do deals.. on line training is hit and miss at best.. you have your rah rah buys like posted above who sell information... and you have your very experienced professionals Like @Don Konipol who give you a reality check. if you want into the business get in the business in a professional manner  sell some of these earn commissions learn as you go along then once you have put in some apprenticeship and have some experience to back up your desires you will find it much easier..

Selling might be tough, building and renting seems like a fair idea, you need nice insulation though.

There is a lot of competition in Wholesaling and it is pretty tough.  

Should I go all out and make it like new again with high quality expensive material or should I go less expensive but still like new?

Once someone falls into significant debt, it is tough to get out of it.