Some lenders might recognize some level of loan to cost(+/- 80%), but you will have to verify your expenses and they will make sure you are bellow 65% of the new value by appraising.I recommend that if you are serious you write a 1-2 page plan, put in a pro forma deal of an actual property you would buy, along with a breakdown of the rehab portion, how you plan to manage the tenants (or if you a have a professional manager), ect.

High level thinking: $100,000 purchase @ 6-7% commission = ~$6,000-$7,000.  

What is your tolerance level for not so nice areas?

I consider the score and the items on the score, along with stability of job and level of income as a whole.

I'm not too sure how I feel getting on a personal level with our customers. 

Not sure I'm willing to go to this level of frugality and/or have anywhere near this amount of discipline but they still offer some good ideas that may be feasible...

On the wholesale level

You should already know not only what types of deals they're looking for (fix & flip, commercial, raw land, etc), but also what areas they prefer to buy in (and which areas they absolutely will NOT buy in), what their price ranges are, what level of rehab they are comfortable with, how they will be financing their purchases, how often they buy, if they're open to seller financing, how much profit they're looking to make per deal, their desired cap rate or ROI, how many units or how many beds/baths, etc etc etc.You should ask every potential buyer all those things when they first ask to be put on your list. 

You will always have people trying to drag you down or keep you at their level.

I have been a typical landlord who is just now embracing social media to take my business to the next level as an aspiring rehabber.