I have been toying with the idea of buying a food franchise, and have been working towards it for last couple of years. 

25+ years in food service and 20 years flipping houses.

I'd like to cater to professionals who always wanted to own a modern loft/houzz.com home, but can't afford anything over $300k and up.

Looks as though we have the potential to cater to both of the demos you've put forth due to the very popular surf and beach culture Oceanside as a vacation destination caters to.That stated, our particular property is somewhat pricey for the average hipster unless they have a large group to pool expenses with which we've been fortunate not to have to deal with as yet.

Center square is on the opposite end as far as price goes, but if you can find a deal there, you can get rents at $1000 for a one bedroom increasing your class of tenant.I've tried to set my sights somewhere in the middle of this, trying to find something that will cater to grad school students around Albany med where you can get $1500 or more for a three bedroom.

I have seen threads on BP were some wholesaler is calling out another wholesaler for advertising their deals with or without permission... wholesaling done right is a very advanced strategy and very hard to do and extremely hard to master.. but you have all these folks thinking its the way to start.. which not sure why they think that other than they can do it if they have no money or they think they can.I just see folks doing this as being out on an island.. the one thing about the real estate brokerage culture is you have companies companies have real support you can go to meetings you can talk with top producers.. you can apprentice and move up the food chain.

The following is just food for thought.   

I have recently started looking for exterior funds and have seen several similar funding sources but most seem to cater to flips vs the buy and hold.

You need a car,4 doors,large trunk or SUV hatchback.You need to carry clients,heavy signs,pennants,food and drinks,etc.You can't run a real estate business from a bus or taxi.

Thank you @Daniel Dietz and @Jay HinrichsDaniel, you've really given me food for thought.