The types of properties I specialize in are Foreclosures, Fixer-Uppers, Rental Property, Commercial, and Multi-Million dollar REO portfolios.

It seems to me that, at its most fundamental level, the two keys to wholesaling are (1) establishing a large network of investors to contact, and (2) effective marketing to find the deals.

NO, they wouldn’t.If you’ve got a job, your wife’s got a job and your way of life financially has been the same for the last many years, why would you not buy a home with the mortgage rates at the current level they are right now?

I don't know your experience level , but, forget the real estate agent and go deal with the banks loss mitigation dept.

Or are the deals really marginal and you need the tax deductions to reduce the pain to a manageable level?

Ask them if a person who is certified would be more likely to get business than people without the certification assuming the same level of skills.Now, if the process to be certified would teach you a lot of things you do not know (either in terms of staging or running the business aspects of such a venture) then it might be well worth the money and the time.John Corey

The Wall Street Journal has a property section and there is one or more blogs that you can find there.Activity level does vary a bit but I know some post weekly.

Any such program would be administered at the local level as the people collecting are local.

I am going to get my securities license so that I don’t have to worry about any violations on a national level, as there are some states that require this type of licensing, that being the case I have a colleague that hold such a license and is willing to act as the broker in the transaction.I have 3 almost 4 years in residential mortgage origination, although, I have moved away from that area of lending since the market collapse.

Although this stage is painful for sellers, this is needed to start lowering the inventory levels.3) Recovery - as the existing inventory is used up, the market will finally begin to recover.