Rose park, West Valley, Kearns, Magna in Salt Lake County are places I would avoid personally.4) Can't speak to much about this however I know there's some local REIA meetups centered around wholesaling going on  so they must be doing alright :)Sorry for my limited knowledge but hopefully that gives you some insight.Good Luck

I'm also wondering if working with a smaller listing agent might be a way to avoid this dual agency problem.

We may avoid the whole thing and go with a portfolio bank. 

The wholesaler then has to come back after some time (weeks or even months) and use some made up excuse why they couldn't close (partner approval, etc).The 100% best way to avoid this, is to be honest and up front.

You have to start somewhere and I don't think you're doomed to start with a complete rehab (although I would avoid foundation issues). 

Spending time talking to people who have been there and done that will save you time, help you avoid mistakes, and hopefully result in new friends.  

This way you avoid passing along the same problem to the next owner.

It was rented out, but the owner isn't able to show any rent history on it since he wanted to avoid paying taxes.

Doesn't mean you aren't profiting just an unnecessary expense. 

(House hacking)If you currently “own” your primary residence (even if the bank owns most of it.) you could move to a new home as your new primary (better rate and terms as a primary and you could put less down though I would still suggest putting 20% down to avoid PMI) and rent out your current home.