I'm not talking about finding buyer/seller but about the actual knowledge base one needs to (intelligently) talk with and do deals with people.

The reason most intelligent investors buy off market is because it allows you to buy at a discount.  

Don't get me wrong, she is a very intelligent woman who is quite capable, but she would much rather take care of the kids and be more involved in church and I support her in that. 

On the plus side, I believe and has been my experience that a motivated, hard working, intelligent, local RE operator can make good returns in any market in the USA ... they may use vastly different strategies in different markets and may need to shift those strategies as the market shifts, but there are always good returns to be had.

However, to buy my first one I may need to drop 20% for the down payment if it's a SFR (since I couldn't use an FHA loan).Doing that will almost wipe out my current cash reserves, which means it will be a slow grind back to another 20k or so (probably 10-12 months).Conversely, I suppose I could try the fix and flip strategy to earn some cash at a faster rate, and then be able to buy more rentals at once, but I am more averse to this strategy because I lack the requisite knowledge/skills/tools for rehab and because it seems a bit more risky going into a potentially problematic property (obviously any property could be problematic but with a fix and flip you KNOW there are going to be problems).So I guess what I'm looking for are some thoughts as to the most intelligent way to utilize my current cash reserves (about 20 - 25k) in a way that doesn't immediately stunt my growth but also with respect to my risk tolerance and knowledge/skills (or lack thereof).

If you have to rely on IO and an idea that rents can be raised, it seems to me that the math isn't working until you tweak it artificially.

It's the tenant that is going to end up losing and paying more, as most intelligent landlords are pretty adept on passing on rental related costs to the tenant. 

(Intelligent) investors want that.

@Sabrina Hill I can not speak intelligently on the topic of buying delinquent tax liens (a lien that is placed on a property by a municipality for delinquent taxes) mainly because WI statute does not allow it.

I agree that the (same' ole) traditional approaches will reap the same results, so I'm hoping to 'disrupt' the industry's apple cart a bit here by making more intelligent inroads by targeting more 'desirable' clientele, so if by chance this sounds intriguing to anyone potentially interested in investing in a scaleable (online based) alternative to 'business as usual...'