Skill comes from practice. 

Also, what are some your best practices for wholesaling in general?

You practically did the same math as me with the only difference you added the margin or percent of profit they might want.With my example of $400k, that's what the developer would pay up to.Yes, at the end, the answer is  'it depends'

Looking for someone to observe and ask questions about looking at properties, best practices for approaching a homeowner that has not put their home on the market. 

Which is not the best business practice anyway.

I'm house hunting (practically townhouse) in Seattle area while taking into account a long-term real estate investment plan.

This puts the property manager (and/or his Broker) on notice that an investigation may start digging into their business practices.

I have a couple of questions as to what would be "best practice" for how we are running things. 

Practice analyzing deals every single day & try to get to a point where the numbers/lingo is almost second nature. 

It is a way to reduce risk assuming your existing residence would have good margins.On a practical basis, investing close or far depends on how involved you want to be.