The friendly, reinforcing community you have grown is a watering hole of knowledge and a web of networks; a true gem. 

Is it just a matter of feeling things out and trying to maximize it without being excessive, do you do a certain % of the overall cost, or something else?

Look for the authors who offer practical advice on how to convert your habits from those of a poor person to those of a wealthy person.

My money is better spent improving my web presence and on targeting direct mail campaigns. 

The best way to learn is to get a real estate license, work on a habitat house so you have some idea of how construction works and have a chance to meet contractors, and attend your local housing finance authorities free classes on real estate financing.These things can all be completed in a couple of hundred hours, max, at a cost of a few hundred dollars, and will put you in the top 1% of "wholesalers."

all interesting stories. i bought a house in 2004. bought it from the local tax authority for, seriously, pennies on the ARV. literally $1700 on a house that after rehab, was worth $30k. the previous owner was an old lady. she moved in with her adult son and used this house for her garage sale habit of buying everything she could and storing it. she used this house like it was a personal storage facility. when it went for back taxes, and i bought it, it literally took me 3 months just to clean the place out. when she died, you think her kid would have took the place and made something of it, but he didn't. he continued to live in a rented apartment when he could have rehabbed this place and lived for free. it amazes me how many people will " shoot themselves in the foot" in this life.

And I'm kind of tired of reading books and browsing web sites with that impression of going nowhere.

If not, the ad may be considered misleading.If an individual (personal) telephone number or web address is included in the advertisement, the office telephone number must be listed as well.

I've been reading a book about real estate investing and the author who shall remain nameless makes a brilliant recommendation when buying REO properties.

I have had luck using CL to find wholesale opportunities, but only when I used a branded ad (company name and logo) that included a graphic and a link to my web site.