The key point is that wealth is as much about spending as it is income.

Consider your objectives and property preferences to make the right choice.Remember that long-term wealth is typically created through buying and holing though!

Your first deal could also make you independently wealthy if you can swing it. 

I suggest you read a fantastic book " Florida Foreclosure Sales: How to become and Stay Wealthy by Mastering Objections, Marketability and Possession" by Natalia Ouelette Grice.

So how could we as investors use bankruptcy as a tool to build wealth? I

Costco Hot-dogs... so that's what the wealthy are eating these days!

Once your wealth is growing and you get to more sophisticated problems you don't have the time to study, that is when it makes sense to pay someone to do that for you.

Two books that I recommend highly are - "Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat: The BRRRR Rental Property Investment Strategy Made Simple" which is a seminal piece on the BRRRR method by David Greene (Bigger Pockets legend)- "Short-Term Rental, Long-Term Wealth" is also a great place to start because in it, Avery Carl (an STR icon) gets into the nitty gritty of what makes an STR acquisition tick.

Depends how wealthy you are and how much money your need now vs later. 

Regarding strategies for building wealth, I agree with you whole-heartedly... buy and hold for sure.