This was not a typical purchase for me at the time but I knew the neighborhood well enough that I was willing to stretch on a house that needed more work than I usually did.

I would think twice about starting with pre-forclosures, they don't appeal to me, personally, but I agree that you can stretch your budget with a little elbow grease. 

Something about your business name and logo are squashed/stretched.

will net about 13K at end of day...better than wholesaling but not a homerun by any stretch of the imagination."

Thats stretching it a little.

It's not like agents are really any more conscionable than a wholesaler just because they have a license, or that mortgage lenders actually care about the real financial positioning of the buyer when they encourage people to stretch on loan amounts or maximum DTI ratios.