I spent 8 years working for my dad after high school, going through the apprenticeship program to attain my Illinois Plumber license, learned the HVAC and electrical trades as well.

Also debating between finding mentor/coach vs attaining my RE license (leaning RE license).

Yes I'm still investing here and I recently attained my Real Estate License so I could get MLS access and have access to the best deals first.

Anyway, are there any wholesalers who have attained great success by just finding deals first or investors who think "find the deal, and the buyers will come." 

Now keep in mind there is going to be a lot of competition for these types of deals so it's not going to be easy but it's definitely attainable with persistence. 

Choose a career that's attainable, in demand, and has a good payout.

@Jesse Milligan, $800-900 may be attainable in Pilsen.  

Do you just attain the average interest rate and utilize that for your projections?  

It is certainly attainable, however you will need some things in place to make it happen: 1) Financing- unless you have unlimited resource of cash, you'll need other resources.

I was looking at some properties today, seeing how they would work as cash-flow rentals, and how they fit the 50%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% "rules" we talk about.I find in the DFW area, that 1% is pretty easily attainable, 1.5% is where you know you're getting a pretty good deal, and 2% means you're in the ghetto or you got an awesome deal.