There are a million people doing it, and a dozen TV shows glorifying it.  

Many a company and individual has gone bankrupt, not because they weren't worth millions, but because they couldn't pay there bills.

In fact, there are 1-2 million foreclosed homes for sale right now, and the Wall Street Journal reports that another 7.5 million U.S. homeowners are either behind on their payments, or in the foreclosure process.Thanks to tighter lending standards, and a depressed buying market, you need plenty of cash, and nerves of steel, to get into house flipping.

I am new to real estate but since I was a kid I have been crazy about the art of making money and how self made million and billionaires got to where they are.

By day I am a commercial asset manager overseeing asset portfolios worth millions for large REITS.

The Cincinnati metro area is over 2 million so I'm unsure of what area to target.

I also get 2% back on all purchases from Home Depot through a local REIA membership (which I believe they get from an affiliation with the National Real Estate Investors Association) Funny story -- I met a flipper/developer who said he purchases $1 million through Home Depot each year.

how much would the house fetch in an ok condition?

(saving,saving,saving)- My current goal is to beat my rival to one million dollars in cash.

This depend on how do you want to structure it because there is millions of option you can do with real estate in-terms of investment.