I say that not to brag or boast, but to demonstrate that even a high school educated heavy equipment operator with a little bit of common sense and a lot of gut instinct can do ok in real estate without committing last years paycheck to somebody to get a stack of papers and promises and a "deal analyzer" that promises to do all of the work for you.

Ultimately, I want to sell the property 3-5 years out speculating that 1) I'll break even on costs/earnings from renting the place and 2) I can make improvements and demonstrate an established business model to then sell the property for significantly more than the purchase price. 

I love to show this to my family frequently to demonstrate how the money is spent and to seek their feedback for new opportunities. 

Taking a few demonstration classes at HD can provide some good info on actual processes, so you have an idea of what is involved, but they will NOT make you a pro installer!

@Timothy Albright  demonstrate on paper that bad things won't happen to convince the seller that financially he gets more than by just selling for a discount.

So, Curt's post on spending $800 to be able to perform and understand how to structure wholesale transactions that can generate you 10k - 15k/transaction is very astute - it may be worth the investment.2) Just because $800 is a large amount of money to you personally does not necessarily detract from the product's inherent value, if you can verify it has the critical information you need and find other people who speak of it's ability to help create value, and who have demonstrated that by doing deals in the manner that the course describes.3) I would bet, and I think that Curt would agree, in this industry it is extremely difficult to find individuals that have integrity.

Are your parents cool with maybe jumping in a deal with you if you can demonstrate some expertise in RE investing.

Brenda,Yes; there is a benefit to the seller - as you, the buyer, would then have no one actually representing you.Any selling agent who suggests this has already demonstrated that they won't have your best interests foremost in their attentions.

Michael,The double closing demonstrates that the wholesaler made more than $15,000 on the deal.

You would want to make sure that both parties can demonstrate that both investments were not contingent on each other going into such transactions.