the wholesaler said that i wouldnt be able to see the lease agreement until i decide to buy the house..... red flag??

If they're simple "square" rooms.

What I do is enter the address on zillow so I know where it's located, set the range for square footage, year built, bedrooms and bathrooms, that are all close to the stats of the subject property and then say "sold in the last. 6 months".

In the event that you have your debts squared away, consider househacking (duplex) OR room rentals.

If the unit is on a trailer chassis and under a certain square footage, then it has a different compliance.

Are there any red flags to keep an eye out for?

@Steve Morris: I will definitely narrow down my end goal to a specific type of property and have hard cash and/or financing plans squared away before first contact. 

We've done 1099s, etc. to make sure we're squared away for taxes.

Ratio Utility Billback Systems are a great way to get tenants to pay for their water, but it doesn't need to be overly complicate with rigid measuring systems.You can create a formula yourself based on square footage, number of tenants, etc... that each unit contains and then right it into the lease that they'll be responsible for a portion of the monthly water bill as calculated through that formula.The key, and it's an important one, is that you cannot profit from billing them for utilities.That means you should take the monthly water bill, and only charge back, say 60-80%.

This has "nightmare" written all over it.As @Erik W. pointed out, there are more than a few things here setting off red flags.With that said, regardless of whether this guy is on the up-and-up, it doesn't sound like you're actually in a position (from an education or experience) perspective to be able to help.Unless you have some previous capital raising experience and have a warmed up investor network (or you're sitting on a boatload of cash yourself), it's going to be a real uphill battle to get this thing funded.My biggest question is: Why is this guy coming to you (an admittedly new investor with no experience) to fund his deal?