Professionals with decades of experience and proven track records do all the heavy lifting.

@Mark AdkinsLook to invest in an area where you feel like you have a 'competitive advantage' over those who are investing sight unseen.This can be various different locations1) An area that you grew up in2) An area that you went to college3) An area that you currently live in4) An area where family livesBest of luck

$8000 is too heavy a load to recoup in my view. 

You can stick to the mainstream and go after the same people your competition is (which is totally fine), but you can also build an advantage by figuring out how to capture the fringes that others ignore.I'm not claiming that you *should* do this or that any of this is relevant to your situation since I don't know anything about you, but wanted to at least share the perspective behind how we think about it.

What is the risk here due to increase in competition and can a 30 year duplex compete with newer homes made by big builder?

But I live in Boston MA, which is highly competitive and houses here are very old.

There was one full gut, and the rest were heavy cosmetic (cabinets, floors, paint, fixtures etc). 

You don't always have the option of financing - Sometimes the property conditions precludes financing, and often you are simply competing against other cash offers, making financed offers non-competitive. 

I know this market is crazy and that the competition will be fierce, so deciding if I try to go down the wholesale route vs.

Investors need to get good at underwriting to remain competitive on their offers without ever having to overpay for a deal.