In other words, this is cash we didn't need to spend (to pay taxes) due to our MTRs.Taken together, cash flow of 7.4%, appreciation of 5.3%, and tax benefits of 20.8% is a promising start for us.

As long as you can afford to make the repairs within the next year or so and you're not spending more than the house is worth, I would move forward with the purchase.

You can sue but you u are gonna spend just as much on legal going after the wholesaler or owner and most likely they have no money anyways so you are chasing a ghost.Unfortunately this happens and this is why you should also follow your checklist and not take shortcuts when buying a property

If you had $25k to spend (possibly up to 35-40 if I borrowed a bit), what would you be looking for?

Soft currency, hard currency, it’s equivalents and commodities (natural resources)From there, For local economy cash flow (spending money where you live), you’ll probably get into real estate and local business cash flow activities and it’s deviations 

Go to real estate investor meetups and spend time talking with other investors than salivating at scaling without the proper foundation.

If the deal is good and the *ongoing* cash-flow numbers make sense, then it doesn't matter what you spend to get it ready.

. 😢😢 I would say try not to squander your money on depreciating items though.

Also, how to prove "Spend more than 100 hours on the activity and no one other individual spends more time than you do"? 

Make sure that you spend time upfront learning how to use it correctly.