However, I don't think they need the money and we may try to keep it as seed money for our next house.Lessons Learned:Good contractors are EVERYTHING.

#1, 2,and 3 (all equally important because they rely on the other two for their success):  Market Analysis; How Money Works; What is, and how to develop a REI Plan#4:  Understanding what "Risk" is to a REI#5:  Understanding why you Never, ever, want to "spend" your seed money....use it to infinity, but under no circumstances do you ever want to "spend" it.

The world of trades absolutely fascinates me and am looking to soak in as MUCH information as possible about real estate and renovations, specifically.

. % is quite small compared to the amount that attend and pay for them.. but like you said who are we to pre judge it for them.I do believe though when people get talked into paying for these courses with credit cards those folks are almost always destine to fail if they have no other significant source of seed capital to start and the time and energy it takes to be in the sales business which is what wholesaling is.. its sales pure and simple.  

As the cash (your seed money) is flipped it gathers "friends" (my word for "profit"), which increases the seed money. 

I'm hoping to make connections within this community and soak up as much as I can so I can be better prepared for my next deal and hopefully share what I've learned with others that find their way to Bigger Pockets.

I stated this before in a different post but really soak in this moment. 

You can wrap it/ lay down poly to force it to soak in vs evaporate.

I currently am trying to soak in whatever information I can to help build a portfolio of single family and small multifamily homes. 

This will plant the seed for later conversations as you grow.