IE wholesaling but that takes money and major sales skills.. and a market that has a lot of excess inventory and rental inventory.. it really depends on where your living and working.. all the guru training materials say just about the same thing there is nothing brand new .. just the same methods or schemes repackaged and regurgitated to enduce those who want it all now and are willing to pay for fast track.think MLM..

I am currently working as an engineer and am excited to get started in real estate sales/investing.

We've seen them for sale, but when does it make sense to actually buy one of these and what does it take to make it a successful investment?  

I also went through Zillow and found foreclosed homes that were for sale and called these foreclosure brokers.

Houses for sale in my area for less than 30k are very easy to find on the mls.

It may take two years to execute, but you can cash flow during ownership and enjoy an increase in value from improving the performance of the property on sale or refinancing.

Like many others have said, a quick sale may be in the clients best interest, over and above the best price their agent could get.

I definitely have more capacity to purchase out of state, but does that mean my first time homeowner FHA loan will go to that sale instead of being able to do something in LA? 

In some areas of Kansas City you can use Zillow - not the zestimate, but the actual sales prices on the maps, photos of houses and choose your own comps.But other than that - you do need to be a licensed agent.  

I live in Danville IL and it looks like everything is for sale low prices homes rent ready anywhere from 15 to 30k and of course your older run down houses 3-10k all different types of houses in different conditions.