As far as a cash-flow per month profit goes I suggest you aim for $300+ net to you, yes you can do skinnier deals all the time but set the bar high and sell a win-win deal that allows you to profit while keeping the buyer happy too.There is much this comment did not address and perhaps opens more questions than it solves.

Answer is we had to win a war.

Lawsuits are extremely expensive even if you did nothing wrong and win the case you still pay the lawyer.

That being said, having my license just so that I can be the agent when close friends/family sell their house (I give them a discounted commission rate and make the process as easy as possible for them so we both win) has been more than worth it for me- potentially an extra $23,000 over the last 18 months!

Learn the rules of their game, compete and win that money game, and remake your world how you think it should be.

Creative ways to Minimize Taxes on Winnings?

That is the trick now: you  won't win on sales comps, so you have to sell the poor condition of the house.As Andrew mentioned, if you follow the BRRRR stratedy, you are buying heavily discounted hopefully and that is the low hanging fruit that you should protest yourself, normally online - present your closing statement and any pics or repair estimate and get it lowered to purchase price.   

This creates a WIN-WIN Situation and gives the Realtor incentive, to work harder on your behalf.

End result: win (mom) - win (you) - win (house) -win (bank).

You lost some, you win some.