Don't try to do it alone find a good real estate who specializes in The real estate investing technique that will be best for you based on your answers to questions above.Our company Leaseown Homes invests using lease options, we found it limits our liability, allows us to minimize the use of our cash and allows us to invest in real estate without risking our credit.

In Florida, by passing the exam, the state says an agent is "minimally qualified".

Minimal rehab to make rent-ready.

I would want the mortgage to be based off of the new appraised value and not the initial purchase price (after I repair it) so that I can take advantage of the 20-25% equity I have in the property and have minimal or no money out of pocket. 

Should I even bother to waste my time viewing the property?

I'd rather them be serious enough about taking my rental to pay my fee and wait for my decision, likely signing the lease if approved than be able to apply for many different ones, have us all waste our time approving them when they may not be serious about actually renting from us.    

Remember all those that say save your money for your first deal.. well that could be good but if you don't know what your doing you could lose 20k on your first deal as easy as you could break even or make money and you wasted a bunch of time and stress.

An agent who feels you are wasting their time is probably not the one you want to work with.

The title could  be the collateral for the loan and by paying the property off in full the closing costs should be minimal. 

Meanwhile you have wasted 30 days and are angry at wholesalers in general.If you want to stand out don't make claims you cannot back up.