Anywhere convention where the focus is on quantity and not quality is a waste of time. 

You can do one of two things, get them under contract for a wholesale flip or start looking for a lender and a good property manager.My first was 23 SFR homes but, I started by finding a quality property manager and asking about properties or portfolios for a sale. 

If you are investing far away I would start by researching for a property manager with quality reviews, just ask them what they may have from their other owners inventory, you could find a good deal with fully rented out properties and not even have to move.   

Our plan is to move forward initially with buying single family homes in the Chicagoland area, and then use the BRRRR method to raise the equity in them so that we can grow larger and larger by buying properties with the increased equity seen after each renovation.

I was introduced to the BRRRR method of investing on a BP episode and I think this is the method I will attempt once I have the money saved.

@Caleb Heimsoth  as Bob noted, there are people who will paint for $175/day but availability might be a big issue and it also depends on what quality you're looking for (e g does it matter to you that the old paint bleeds thru in a couple of spots)if you figure around $1.05-$1.10/sq ft (of wall space, not just floor space) that will put you on the low end of retail, will give you a decent quality job but won't include wall repair or baseboards/trimdry locking the basement should be around the same price but that stuff has a pretty overwhelming odor so you might get contractors saying they either don't do it or want a premium....get yourself a quart and open it up if you don't know what I mean....I've got a painter and other contractor referrals.....most will work anywhere on the west side. 

If you have a quality home to rent, there will be plenty of applicants in Westland. 

What are the methods?

Account Closed  so how do small investor compete with these big players.. they buy the big package cherry pick by the time the notes get to us little guys we get the left overs.this is why I just skipped that and created my own niche with QUALITY performing notes that you don't have to bid on or compete for.. granted returns are not as much as what those hope for in the NP space but there is no work to them.. they are there and ready to go.. just buy them.. its all teed up.. spend zero time on all this work..

What flow rate and water quality?