Closed/sold on my first property end of Jan, and finishing up my second flip this week.

Put safety first by looking closely at homes, guessing fix-up costs, working with good workers, and having backup plans for surprises.

As a lender - 1) investors that are just starting out normally float towards high leverage/high rates lenders (lower margins and more risk); experienced investors normally go with lenders that can close fast, reliably, and with low fees.

Posting one time in the forum which most closely relates to your topic will help you get more response.

I am getting ready to close on my first property - it's a duplex located in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, and I will be renting out the first floor unit and occupying the second floor unit myself.

Yep...just closed one on Friday. 

Most of the properties I have available are $300,000-700,000; so if a hard money lender requires 25% down, with closing costs of 1-2%, and the hard money lender wants $20,000 in reserves, plus 1% to the hard money lender, we're looking at anywhere between $104,000 to $216,000 out of pocket costs. 

I am currently finishing up remodeling a bar/restaurant for this investor that will be closed on by the end of May.My current financial situation is unfortunately not great.

Wholesaling is only a small part of the community, this isn’t one of those courses you’ll drop thousands on and just get a portal to watch a bunch of videos. 

If a tenant wants to move in on a Sunday and the utility company is closed, they need to set up utilities to start in their name on the Friday before so everything is ready for them.