We believed that the main portion of that fee would go towards the tax strategy portion where your designated ‘tax team’ would help you create a customized ‘tax strategy plan’ to minimize your taxes moving forward, while the tax preparation for a simple portfolio like ours was thought to cost no more than $2k of the total fee.

I would not suggest purchasing in the largest metroplex areas (Austin, DFW Houston, etc) have seen enormous growth and price increases in the housing markets. 

But in general, here are some simple buy rules: You can't pay more than $200k for a SFH, can't pay more than $300k for a Duplex, 350k for a Triplex, and 400k for a Quadplex.

Since 2020, there has been a 50% increase in available STR units in Anchorage.

They sure make it simple, unlike us actual professionals

My suspicion is that the attraction of “wholesaling” is (1) it seems to be a simple independent one person business and (2) it appears to have a very small capital requirement.  

In the case of a roof, etc. you could renegotiate a higher sales price (amend the contract) to cover the cost of the upgrade (if the market will bear the increase).

It appears the units are below market, however with some cosmetic repairs and perhaps some capex's I feel I could increase the rent by at minimum (based on local comps) 68%.I would offer 85% of list and estimated $20,000 in repairs/upgrades (this is probably a generous estimate - the property appears to be in good shape, basically needs a face lift).With all these figures, including the 50% rule, financing with 20% down @ 3.5%, I come out to a profit of $262 per unit and a cash-on-cash return of 9.53%.So, does this seems reasonable?

Increase the term of your loan.  

Yes there is rent increase but only to the extent of what is reasonable with your competition.