Be VERY pessimistic in your analysis of what the property will eventually sell for once renovated. It's the single biggest mistake investors make when evaluating a deal to close on, renovate and resell. It's good to be optimistic on the overall view of the business of investing in real estate, but it can be financially destructive to be optimistic when estimating what a property will sell for once you have renovated it. Also, study all the comps, active and closed. If there are a ton of other listings in that area, you will not only have to compete with some of those that haven't sold by the time you put yours on the market, but others will appear after you begin rehabbing too that aren't there yet. If a wholesaler says it will sell for $179,000, (although your very, very, very detailed comps analysis will provide the true picture), as a rule of thumb, reduce that by 10%, so it may sell for $160,000 in the real world.
As for you renovation costs, it usually ends up costing 10%-20% more than your very best estimate. And the more extensive, (which this one sounds intensive), the more likely it will be on the 20% end rather than the 10% end. There's an old saying in the contractor business, the bigger the project, the more money you can lose. For investors, that same principal holds true. The larger the renovation project, the more problems could come up. So you want an even bigger margin of safety on this one. Spreadsheets may help get a general picture, but in the real world, experience teaches you to round up...
Maybe you can talk the wholesaler down to $80,000.
Plus purchase closing costs, insurance, etc. ($3,000)
$60,000 in renovations and holding costs
So you'd be in it $143,000
If it sells for $160,000, after real estate commissions, this deal may earn $10,000 and that's if everything goes right.
So you have no margin of safety either. Ouch!
Looks thin to me...but that's how it usually is with deals sourced from most wholesalers. Thin.
