I could be off base but that's my take on it.1,500 is not a lot for someone who could actually teach you the business.. but you may want to talk with some local folks and offer to work for free in exhage for some education you may have some takers on that.But at your age I personally would spend the money getting a RE license and go to work for a top producing broker on a team and REALLY learn the industy.. wholesaling is not a life long pursuit with most folks...

I'd love to produce and sell that.

Based on the few (2) recent sales available (that come up on Zillow), I'd say your ARV is a bit conservative - should produce a quick sale, so that's good.

An online calculator I used produced a similar figure.Anyone know what's going on here?

I would concentrate on a smaller area and send postcards once a month to the same prospects, one mailing is not going to produce the results you may be expecting.

Our long term goal is to build a portfolio of rental properties that produce passive income both for his retirement and my long term wealth.

I like the flipping aspect because it would give me a way to produce capital quickly to invest into other properties.

I have an office in Provo and #1 producer for RE/MAX since 2012.

my father has been  a landlord for 20 years in detroit so i get to hear all about them since ive been around1 self employed people they  always fail to pay on time and leave dirt everywhere to be cleaned 2 those who turn into a life of crime and decide the unit is either a great place to distribute narcotics meth and other dangerous substances or worse they decide its a perfect place to produce drugs having the fbi lock down the unit and investigate my father this has happened 5 times now3 have had two units completely scrapped and i mean interiors gutted, copper pipes ripped heaters boilers even the shower and toilets stolen, these skin heads even tore threw the walls to steal all the electrical and hvac, needless to say they costed tens of thousands 4 one tenant decided it was a cool idea to pay for one month, then strip the entire location. once the tenant was evicted the house was burned to the ground. no charges were ever given .5 worst of all is when people die. once a drunk driver in a pickup truck drove right into the living room and killed not only himself but the tenants watching tv in the room, weve also had about 3 that i remember who we found laying dead from alcohol poisoning, the last one we payed to be sent and burried near his family  also we once had a witch doctor, this old lady disappeared after renting for a year. when we went inside the walls were covered in blood, there were rotting animals that had been cut open, candles and wax stuck all over the place. 

I have been selling real estate for the last 3 years and was Remax's youngest top producer every year.