I am in the process of closing on a property I picked on an online auction.

I spoke to the listing agent today and he seems confident that the owner will hold a note, so I'm thinking it should cash flow nicely if I'm able to pick it up for $40k at the highest.

So what I've sometimes done is pick and choose from their estimate what I want them to do, and what I want someone else to do because I think I can get a better price or better quality of work or both. 

My mother likes to say - you have one ***..pick a chair, and sit!

You don't necessarily pick up everything that way but you will pick up a lot of things. 

Picking a place to start and setting some goals will help get your momentum going.

I am no expert, but on #2 for an SUV is $25k you can write off.I believe a pick up with a 6 foot bed could qualify for full purchase price.

There are a few of us local agents on this site who I'm sure you'll be able to pick up a plethora of information from.We've been having a monthly meetup for members of this site, usually on the last Thursday of the month.

I'd encourage you when starting out to just pick one primary strategy and go from there, especially if you're looking to get into wholesaling.

One tip that I picked up here is while you are starting out and saving money for your investments, start driving / visiting areas you would like to invest in so you get a feel for prices, rents , house conditions etc, and visit and look at lots of homes and open houses so your eye get used to looking at repairs / upgrades that are normal in a particular market.