They own another house that sits vacant and has for 4 years making them no money.

And have been sitting on the home for a good 4-5 years!

So it seems to me that folks are probably happy to sit on the money making machines rather than sell.

Don't sit around waiting and miss out.If the numbers don't work with 20% down, save up and put 40% down.

In addition, if you pull $50K out of that property, you'll be sitting at 90% LTV.

I don't recall where you are--city/state, but a couple of people just had successful sales, and a couple of people did not.

The high school sits right on this road and so do all the big box stores and restaurants.

It’s not going to be high volume that wholesaling implies.If you’re familiar with the real estate economic cycle, you’ll recall that the period following a rapid period of price inflation leads to a flat period (stagflation - rising interest and flattening sales). 

I am not a big fan of this unless you can earn good money on the cash you pull out; and it makes things a bit illiquid.Conversely... paying off a real estate loan feels good, but at the same time getting cash out of a house that is paid for is not necessarily hard but can be a pain.At times I suggest that people run parallel for a bit... have your cash sitting somewhere earning 5-6% and have your loan charging you 5-6% (or less or more, I know, but...).

All my stuff sits between E Warren & Mack Ave which I consider to be the "heart" of Morningside.