New to Real Estate in Minneapolis

Hi everyone. I'm a new real estate investor and I've spent the past 3 months reading up on real estate and how to conduct wholesale deals. I live in Minneapolis, MN and am looking for advice on how to get started (how to find preforeclosure listings, how to read markets, who to contact to write up contracts, what title companies you use who are investor friendly, etc). I'm in the middle of obtaining my PhD at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (biomedical sciences) and am looking to to start investing part-time and would appreciate any advice. Thank you