Plenty of free options out there to learn the business and get your feet wet and start taking action. 

Just want to get going because I believe this is something I would be good atI am looking to start by wholesaling in the Chicago-land area and I know you need a RE license for that which I am currently debating on.

Again, I don't want to speak for them or start rumors, rather see if anyone has any direct credible experience they can share.  

I once bought a house where the HVAC wouldn't kick on and the seller said he had a guy look at it and said the outside compressor needed replacement.

There was a starting amount of 300k, would i need to bid above 300k or any amount over $1 since it has no bid?

Read Beginner’s Guide to help you get started: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing Good luck on everything!

You'll have to travel to the area and start trying to round up some folks, and some capable backups if one of your regulars gets put in jail or strung out on meth.7. 

I'm an software engineer on W2 and she started as real estate agent about 2yrs ago.

Under this method you make your one and only offer; no negotiation, if it’s not accepted you walk away.When I started in real estate investing a couple of hundred years ago, I was a proponent of the first method.  

I’m very familiar with civic source they started about 10 years ago to fix a problem.