I've been specifically looking towards wholesaling to build capital so I can branch out into other parts of real estate investing.

The Lehigh Valley is considered Allentown,Bethlehem and Easton.Some awards won by Allentown In the recent years:2015- Ranked by Fortune Magazine as being among the top 10 best places in the US to relocate corporate finance and Information technology companies.2016- Cited as a “national success story” by the Urban Land Institute for its downtown redevelopment. 2017 & 2018- Downtown Allentown Revitalization District was named 1 of 13 winners worldwide of the prestigious “Urban Land Institute Global Award for Excellence”.

Make sure you understand the property and your market well before deploying any capital, and best of luck!

Had a few major capital expenses and bad tenants that are being worked through right now.

If we sell the unit now, it is still considered a primary residence (lived there for 2 out of the 5 years preceding sales) which will exempt us from capital gain ($250k for single; $500K for married filing joint).

Currently, I am reading @Matt Faircloth book which you can get here on BP which is called Raising Private Capital.

Is it better to buy, remodel and hold for at least a year and a day to hold to qualify for capital gains tax/passive income?

@Mike Easton the key is the mindset during conversation typical realtor conversation -- market price blah blah ... i can list wholeselling conversation -- i saw your house and can pay you $XXK with $XK earnest moneyGiven you are a realtor , you really need to polarize (two extreme) your customers to see if they are retail seller (have time and not in need of capital immediately) vs someone really needs to get out with cash on hand yesterday. 

(At least at first)My initial plan was to create an LLC that outlines the terms of the equity structureOur goal/hope is to continue to acquire properties together over the coming years, but I will most likely be putting in more capital over timeDoes this seem like a reasonable approach to take?

Not my most desirable method, but one I learned form the first and most established AP firm in the nation created over 100 years ago and still going strong.