After extensive clean up and rehab these two rentals generates $1,700 per month.

Cut up large portions and freeze.      

If a seller wants to sell for future value they need to do what is necessary to bring the value up to that price. 

did you end up finding one?

While it seems like there are some better priced deals lately, you may have to be prepared to put down 30-40% down.I'd say due to the lack of homes for sale, you should be open to many if not most cities depending on the deal that comes up. 

Would love to learn the process, but don't know how much value I can provide as my time is eaten up by a newborn. 

To make up the difference of the total price, I used seller credits, lines of credit, and second mortages on other properties. 

You would need to do a detailed write up of both you and your brothers situation to get any useful info from here.  

Subsequently I ended up buying property in 8 states, and a couple weeks ago bought 5 properties in 5 days in 3 states.

The 45 days identification time sometimes presents a challenge and if you dont give yourself a little wiggle room you might end up buying something you dont necessarily want/like.