As Colin noted above it is hard to compete with the large players in the field.Where we found a better bang for our buck was getting on more channels like Marriott, Booking.com, and about 20 others. 

That said, expect to deal with a fair amount of fluff leads.The two best strategies I’ve found are inbound methods: direct mail and Google Ads.Direct mail can be expensive, but it can also yield highly discounted properties.Google Ads, on the other hand, doesn’t require data extraction like calls, direct mail, or texting.

No, you said how does one find a "deal" without a wholesaler, it's very simple, you simply put in the work to either (A) be found by these sellers who are "deals"     -OR- (B) you approach them yourself. 

Found out someone was doing that to a client of mine. 

That being said, we have owned a fourplex in a small town in Michigan for about 10 years but had no guidance when we purchased, I have found all the information Bigger Pockets offers extremely helpful and I am grateful in advance to any advice on this thread. 

From there, we moved to FL and I found several houses by driving around or riding my bike in the neighborhood.3.

The main reason I do it is that if a client does move on to another tax pro next year, a lot of detail that they'd ask for can be found in those supplemental sheets.

Here are a few I recommend: "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Roberto Kiyosaki; "Set for Life" by Scott Trench; "The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing" by Spencer; "The BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide" found here on BP; "The Book on Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Tuner.

I found another property that my wholesaler sent me today.

Haven't found much resources on how to structure the deal whether to buy out partner's shares at existing basis (I believe this wouldn't be advantageous as I wouldn't get to mark the asset to market and lose out on depreciation) or open new LLC or S-Corp and buy out both partners (I would end up taking gain tax due to sale but would get new dep. basis).