This way you always have the skills needed to find properties at a discount......which is the root of achieving financial freedom in this great business.

Probably look at those turnkey and put the lowest one of those as your HIGH for ARV and then discount that and take off a conservative repair estimate and see where that leaves you.  

If you have a lower end home that needs updates but overall is safe and clean, section 8 might get you more prospects at market rate vs the prospect of you having to discount rent to attract non subsidized tenants.  

The most likely way you can achieve this is by marketing to the all of the properties and then hoping that for at least one of the properties:A) the owners of the property are motivated to sell, B) the owners of the property have substantial equity in the property allowing for them to "sell" it to you for a deep discount, C) you can negotiate a price both low enough for you and your buyer to get a good deal while being high enough for your seller to feel comfortable selling,ANDD) you can get all of this under contract.In order for you to get paid for simply connecting your cash buyer to the owners of the properties you would need a real estate license.To my understanding the main difference between wholesaling a property and representing a client as a licensee is that in the wholesale transaction you enter into a contract with the seller to "buy" the property (which really means to assign to another buyer) and in a licensee transaction you enter into a contract to either "represent" a seller, buyer, or both in the selling of a property.

Just because they moved out early, I don't think entitles them to a discount unless you were able to secure a new tenant before the 1st of the month.As far as taking it out of the security deposit, I think this is a good example when that would be acceptable.

If not, seek a discount.  

When" buying", I seek out discounts from 1 to 1and 1/2 percent as a "cash back".

Typically, kitchens and bathrooms will give you the best return, but each market is different, so some background work is required.4) If you do not have the time to list the properties, why not use the friend for a discount, but as Jacob said, that is assuming he is good.

They don't require a separate trade (HVAC) your electrician can handle them, they don't need to be installed until move-in if your worried about theft.Craig's list is excellent for appliances, don't discount some of the low end stuff at Sears.

I am yet to spend a penny of my own money. 2 cherries on top: We should be in position to refinance and ditch PMI in 12 months, saving $375/month and will have our HELOC fully paid back in around 18 months (we will pay ourselves a drastically discounted rent to get us there).Now on to construction...