Schooling in my town is amazing, so there is no issue with that.Transportation to NYC is literally 2 minutes on every corner to the bus, so that isn't an issue.Additionally, I was told that I should stay away from homes with oil tanks for heating because if the oil tank was to leak, the soil would be contaminated and it would cause a big headache and a big whole in my wallet.

Roaches and other peasants that could creep over to your other tenants, replacing soiled carpets, holes in the sheet rock, litigation......Who know what your set back will be every time a tenant leaves.

each lot is unique and each city is unique... until you have a house plan.. and an engineered foundation that is approved by the city  and that is put out to bid.. there is no way to know exactly what your build costs would be other than to spit ball .... and really depends on the soil stability to start with

Because a good chunk of what you have to learn to get a RE license has no bearing on whether or not something is a good investment.  

(Typical realistic expectation)To qualify your response, let us know how many wholesale deals you have done in the two years.For further insight, you can give a selling price range as well as your typical expectation for that same $25000 acquisition.I have no idea if a wholesaler expects to make $1000 on a typical deal, or $20,000... or whatever the market will bear. 

In the meantime, I'm wondering if I should try out hard money lending while I'm getting my investment bearings.

Still trying to get my bearings myself!

I've been listening to the podcasts for about 2 months now and it has provided me with the wealth of knowledge I needed to get my bearings in this crazy world of real estate investing.

I shy away from interest bearing accounts because you must pay those pennies to the tenants which is a headache.

Bear and bull markets create their own investor momentum.