@Mark Watkins   well the 20k was a dead give away to me.. any lender that is doing deals will usually have a 75 to 100k minimum... check out the scottsmans guide there will be a list of REPUTABLE lenders there and you will see very few make loans for less than 100k... now in the mid west I know you need them lower than that.. but as a lender and I have been one... its just a loser to try to make little loans .. you can't charge enough to make the risk even close to worth it..so when I see these guys say they make loans at 20k to 20 million  RED FLAG... 

If you're still looking at different strategies I'd recommend reading through The Ultimate Beginner's Guide as it breaks them down.

I'm interested in REO's (I think), mainly because you have a realtor guiding the purchase. 

If neither of you have a lot of experience in the large multi-family market, please reach out to me or to someone that does so we can guide you.Gary

Make sure to read the Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

She did a great job at showing me my options and guiding me through the HUD/rehab process. 

After reading the beginners guide, forums, blogs, and guides.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/01/31/ultimate-beginners-guide-real-estate-wholesaling-2/Great way to get your questions narrowed down so that we can answer them!

I really recommend reading the Ultimate Beginner's Guide (https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing) to give yourself some perspective. good luck!!

Definitely check out the BP Podcast and Guides.