Being near an army base it is easy to find properties in good area's that can be rented quickly, but i have yet to been able to put in an offer. 

Although it has not always been an easy road, the end goal of having a portfolio of recession resistant real estate is what causes me to stay committed. 

It is easy, you sign a listing agreement to find a suitable lease option buyer (there should be a state form in all the forms the Realtors print out that can be used. your brokerage fee will be a set amount payable from the TB's option payment and like any other fee it will go to the broker and she/he will write a check for your share. 

There are several different ways to go about this and a ton of great posts, member blogs, BP blogs, BP podcast, books which cover this topic in great detail so I will just provide you a few terms to search and you will find all the information you could ever want right here on BP.1)  Wholesaler - You are right if you could find a great wholesaler this could provide you a steady stream of properties which could be a good input into a fix/flip model.2)  Motivated Sellers -  If you want to dive in you can start looking for the motivated sellers yourself but this is not a easy endeavor.  

Well I can think of 3 easy ways to find wholesalers.the first one is on bogger pockets, use the network feature to locate people in your target area and see if they wholesaleThe second on is on linkedin. 

I want to start with a simple deal first so I decided to purchase an apartment which could be easy to manage.

That part of Vermont should garner you some great tenants, relatively cheap 3-4 family properties and be within easy reach for personal attention.There is a REIA meeting trying to gain some traction in your area as well.  

I'd be lying if I said its been easy or that I haven't been in some dark places the past 9 months.

Hey Patrick,I like the layout of the spreadsheet, very easy to read. 

One of the key reasons I and others invest in real property is because of how easy it is to obtain a loan on the equity position of your property.