I know Experian has the option with "Experian Rent Bureau" that uses rent payment services who report to Experian to build the credit history.It seems like a viable business opportunity for the credit reporting agencies as long as the info is coming from legitimate verifiable sources.

You should also know exactly what you are assigning as a Wholesaler as very few people actually understand this key part which, if done wrong, can lead to fines and unwanted calls from State Agencies regarding your activity.After you have your ducks in a row as far as legal, knowledge and requirements, then ways to start finding potential wholesale deals are:1) Driving for Dollars2) Online advertising "We Buy Homes"3) Meet with some local Estate Attorneys and Bankruptcy Attorneys and introduce yourself as a Real Estate Investor4) Road Side Signs: "We Buy Homes"5) Attend Local Networking Venues (like REIA Clubs, Meetups, Seminars, Etc.) to get your name out there and meet others in the business - Have Business Cards to hand outNow the hard part...learning what Investors are looking for.

If it were me and it was:The only way I could get started The truth (not saying it's not)You had a legitimate reason to be in North NJ every weekend (family, kids, business)I'd go for it.

Anytime a lender is willing to also provide you with guidance rather than just loans you are probably dealing with someone legitimate. 

That will take more work as you'll have to either do direct mail marketing to find the deals yourself or work with wholesalers and give up a bit of that equity.Conversely, if you're open to different venues totally, you have enough equity to invest into commercial properties like multifamily or NNN as someone else mentioned.

What other venue is going to give you a gurenteed return on your investment in less then 2 years?

Since you'll be referring the leads to the agent, it gives them a legitimate reason to consider you an assistant and they can give you MLS in exchange for those leads.  

I'm going to do an online search about submitting a legitimate offer to this buy owner seller..but what better resource is there than Bigger Pockets!

In this case that you describe, it seems legitimate.

With that said, to find a wholesalable deal in a retail venue can be done.