You can't afford to take short cut at this point. 

do you have a good enough relationship go back to the seller and explain that the numbers do not work and you need them to sell at a lower price?

Whether one is better than the other I can't say, but if the numbers work and it cash flows I say go for it.What kind of investor are you?

Then to show off my work and hear the prospect tenants praise the beauty of the counter tops and fixtures was just the instant gratification I needed.

One thing I can tell you as a former photographer, you do great work and even have a nice website.

I am ramping up my REI work and shifting from wholesaling lease options to traditional wholesaling. 

Or, is it worth $100K right now but it needs some work, and once the work is done it will be worth even more?

many things in residential construction are not hard to learn but spend some time learning those basics.The more detailed you are, the better you define a scope of work, and the more organized you are the better your contractor will feel he can work with you and make money.

It only seems easy because the best wholesalers have set up a system where they delegate a lot of the grunt work and focus on mainly closing deals.

I haven't any people with whom I know who are interested in RE, my mother, the agent, isn't exactly helpful, and I haven't a ton of money left for investment because of the useless courses I've purchased.I do hope to come across positive people, and people who've done this work, and would like to assist some of us who want to learn by doing.