Ideally, both but I really like single family homes and would like to move to markets such as Kansas city to get better cash flow and speed up my retirement. 

The reasons wholesalers make money are essentially 1) speed to close, and 2) large deferred maintenance that precludes typical sales.

Most brokers have many more lenders on speed dial than you can feasibly get quotes from.  

I work for a great agency, Fathom Realty, they have a great mentoring program and were names the fastest growing companies for the third year in a row!

“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”The speed of the collapse has been stunning.

None of which caught the "12 months from ETS" speed bump. 

Things like mistakes to watch out for, things that I can do beforehand to speed up the process, taxes, fees, is it complicated, etc.?

I teach my clients to have all the expenses on auto withdrawal  ( mortgage payments, monthly assm, if needed: tax and insurance) and have the phone number of few handymen on speed dial.

One of the fastest simplest ways to pre-screen is with 1 question:  "How much money do you have set aside for an upfront payment?"  

Not only does this create a less fearful first contact environment for the seller, it also helps you qualify them before getting on the phone and best of all allows you to capture their phone number even if they don't leave a message.Although not directly related to finding the deals, I would add that in any highly competitive area speed and personal touch can make a huge difference.