Readers should seek professional advice.

I am the real estate professional and I worked with hard money lender This sounds like the exact same strategy a client of mind uses in Kansas City!

This sounds fine until one realizes they are paying all of the front-end broker loads and operator acquisition fees all over again. 

I don't know what they are but unless there's something in the city that requires that kind of notice, it sounds excessive to me.

Speak with a real estate attorney about the legalities of wholesaling real estate in your specific area, the internet isn't the place to get legal advice.

A low maintenance condo rentable to good tenants sounds like a good starting point to me.I’m 56 and reasonably setup for retirement, so real estate is a stabilizing diversifier for me.

Sounds like you are off to a great start!

Best advice is to partner with someone who specializes in investment properties in the Austin area.

Seller will be taking a 30k+ loss with this route.325k with 50K down to seller, 3 years of payments $1600/month, and a balloon payment of 215k at the end of 3 years.Benefits to me: (1) 10k less downpayment, (2) with the conventional route, the loan would be at 228k after 3 years of payments, so I will gain additional equity with the 2nd option since I will owe 215k (presumably I will have to refinance at that time).Benefit to seller: she gets over asking price, 50K upfront and $300/month of cash flow.Does this offer and structure sound reasonable?

I thought the 'add 1-2%' interest rate sounded low.