So rather than buy the property at $100,000 and then put $50,000 into it in repairs, I may tell the seller that I plan on spending $50,000 on repairs to fix up the property and I would ask the seller to sell me the property for $150,000 with a rehab credit of $50,000.

Under this rule, if you spend at least 100 hours on the property and no one else exceeds your time spent, you can qualify as materially participating.

That’s why the successful wholesalers and flippers I know spend $10,000 and more MONTHLY on marketing.  2.

You can attend all the REIAs and read all the books and sign up for all the conferences, and spend all the money, and you are will never really know you can do it until you do.Over 20 years in real estate in various forms and roles, action will beat out intelligence or education or even network 100% of the time.  

You indeed have to spend that much money.

A straightforward way to estimate value is by looking at the price per square foot and using that to calculate your property's worth.In situations like this, it's worth spending a couple of hours yourself to get a solid understanding of the market.

I havnt done much analysis but need to spend more time doing it. 

That would be a helpful addition to your plan as you would further reduce your cost of living.Also don’t forget from that $600 you are planning on getting in cash flow you have taxes, insurance, maintenance, capex, and vacancy to consider.With two homes, you may want to keep that extra $20k as an emergency fund rather than spending it on a third property and then be left with no emergency funds.

Could be the best money you spend on the deal!

I spend most of my 20s living on both sides of the river in Saint Louis.