Not sure what people you are talking about, but starting with 100k and BRRRing into retirement in a few years is unlikely unless you can live on a really small monthly income or worked like hell to combine that 100k with other resources (sweat equity, partnerships, etc) to grow rapidly.

I see every day that rents are rising at a rapid pace - the population is already stretched to the max as far as finding affordable housing.I should really contact decision makers in the city.... this should be a give and take. 

This constant focus of newbies on rapid scaling and unreasonably cheap furnishings fixtures and equipment are no guarantee of success.

We spend a couple days recently at Lowes scanning upcs of our commonly used materials.

It was a lot harder and I wouldn't have recommended it in the past as you needed to either have an account with Leader Bank to make an EFT transfer for deposit unless you wanted to scan and upload a check - which was miserable. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2019/10/11/a-new-view-inside-nulus-rapid-rise-and-whats.html?

I own a small (1000 sq ft 2/1) SF home in a rapidly improving and desirable part of town, but it is in need of total renovation.

Are there any wholesalers in the Eastern Iowa area, mainly Cedar Rapids, Marion, or Hiawatha area that need help or are willing to speak to a beginner?

The dollar is deteriorating rapidly and the only thing to do with it is buy as much potentially valuable stuff as possible while still being able to pay the bills. 

Even though “it depends” is obviously the most accurate answer, I believe that the 15% rule of thumb is the best heuristic to use to scan STR deals.