It was like pouring gasoline straight from the distillation column on the small fire I had to start this new venture.

And I bet "Alex P.

They can often close in days rather than weeks like the banks.As for your other questions, as you seem totally new to wholesaling, your best bet is to read read read through the forum, there is tons of advice and you will find many people have different techniques when it comes to wholesaling.First, yes Get a property under contract and then look for a buyer.You can either double close on the property, which is basically a 3 way closing where you buy and sell the property at the same time, or you assign the contract to the buyer and  then you don't need to go to closing.

For the original bath, I would bet it would be hard to buy materials for that price ($1500), unless you are using very cheap materials.  

A safe bet even for buy and holds.

I certainly can't tell you, but I will say that your chosen areas are a solid bet for rising rents.

Bet you drive out of your way to avoid going thru L.A.

I'll bet you have lots of stories about the history of that deal.

Perhaps in the future, you instead just give a plate of cookies, a dried soup in a jar that's colorful and pretty (I did this for tenants and my own neighbors), a Christmas ornament, or something along those lines.Also, I'm willing to bet that your Tenant A needs you to deposit checks quickly because that's how they budget.

I bet a team of painters could have been in and out in a day or two.