Handyman magazine is handy for the beginner and pro, other home improvement publications and sites are full of techniques, but actual skills take practice to master.You can get an idea of material costs at the supplier, their ads usually have common materials.

Here are the skills I possess.

Even if you don't have the skills, you can learn them.  

I have little to no desire to be a wholesaler; but, I'd be interested in buying good fix and rents in the D/FW area, in the B/C categories, although for C properties my Spanish skills are sketchy at best.

You could do most of the staging yourself in the kitchen and bathrooms, such as bowls of fruit and flowers on the kitchen counter, towels, shower curtains, and wall art in the bathroom, etc.  

The Art Of The Deal by Donald Trump Commercial Real Estate Investing 101 by David LindahlJust for starters.

I understand the idea of motivated sellers and their need to sell at what anyone with some simple math skills can see as a good deal.

Treat your investing career as a long term process and working FSBO's is a great skill set to learn which can build on in the future. 

Habits or skills I should develop in the next few years before I really get started. 

Your observational skills will be valuable.Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info.