Aaron I believe his work is expensive primarily b/c his skilled labor costs are high, not because he's making a fat margin.  

Wholesalers outright lie about ARVsRealtors will inflate the values to try and get listings...If you expect to use a wholesaler to source deals (they typically take the fat off most deals) and a realtor to verify the ARVs expect to do a few flips for free or at a loss.Don't get me wrong, good realtors and wholesalers are out there.....just like unicorns.

Then one day, in place of my beautiful plants was a very fat and satisfied green horn worm.

If you can't belly up to the bar, you don't get to enjoy most of the bottle!

Now my life is "ruined" :) As of writing this post, my Real Estate investing experience is a big fat 0.

I lost most of my retirement money when the economy went belly up.

Well then I can't be drinking non-fat soy mocha double shot with foam drinks that cost $5 a pop.  

No one will sell you a general liability policy for less than 10 times the insurance a PA contractor needs, so...As you can see, pretty much the whole Pennsylvania GC registration licensing system is all smoke and mirrors designed to give the public a cheap illusion of confidence in an army of bumbling handymen and to keep a second army of insurance industry lobbyists fat and happy.It's a bit different if you want an electrician's license for the city, and plumbing licenses, yeah, they're the real deal.There is absolutely no conflict between being a PA-registered or Pittsburgh-licensed GC and having a real estate license.

Interest on the note is 3.25% ( WSJ PR) for 2 yrs and I pre negotiated renewals for 2 yrs after the 1st term.I would be happy to document everything on the project from the purchase thru completion if there is interest.I should add 2 different companies owned this before me and went belly up. 

I agree with Wayne in that it is unlikely there is enough fat on those properties that both the winning bidder and you could mark up the sales price in order to sell to an end buyer.