Online reviews for them are all over the place. 

See if the county where you are looking has their upcoming auction properties online, find out everything you can about the ones that interest you, and see if you can buy a property outright with cash off the courthouse steps.

Start, as much as possible with things that work at 1 property or 100 properties so you're not having to completely change your practices as you go through growth phases.

I would like the option of paying cash for a property Where financing is not immediately available.To build strong networks in the industry: the more diversified the better.To practice cultivating and evaluating deals.To hone my negotiation skills.I learn best by doing, so I am hoping to be of service to someone who already has their feet in wholesaling, and is living near the San Francisco bay Area.

Contributions into new entities after completion of a 1031 is a fairly common practice in the world of partnerships and mergers.  

One I can highly recommend is @Daniel Hyman with My Online Accountant, LLC

I believe the states are going to step in and shut down the practice.  

Sounds shady to me, but thats because I havent seen it and I think it practically begs them to drag the job out. 

The hustle is called Tax sale overages and you basically call the county for an overages list or find it online.   

If you are going to stick to online based marketing, consider SEO as well.