Any ideas are welcome, or feel free to tell me if this whole way of thinking is harebrained -- is it impossible to merge the worlds of investing and retail buying? 

If you're looking to resell on a retail level, it may just take some time.

Honestly, we have been investing in the Dallas area for a few years now, and lately, most of what I see being listed as "wholesale properties" are essentially being listed for retail prices, there is little to no margin for the person doing rehab.

Even if a property will not rent for 1% of ARV my returns are excellent because I don't overpay for the property.Purchase Formula: ARV minus Rehab Costs minus 17% of ARV = Buying Price that will work for MOST properties, but you still have to run the rent return criteria numbers.I know landlords who pay retail prices for rental properties off the MLS because their rent return calculations pass. 

Are you advertising a retail listing in a forum of investors?

( need to know this in order to determine if you can rent it without losing )  If selling in 1-2 yes - you might have the ability to break even assuming present appreciation pace continues ..... if you will need financing - get pre approved as you want to be prepared in case an opportunity arises... the neighborhoods you mention are still solid / desirable and good deals don’t last long 

The buyer trying to sell the seller on their capabilities and the seller hoping they have found an uneducated buyer on retail real estate to dump the property on for a premium.By the questions you are asking it seems you are not well versed in commercial retail properties and there is a lot to it with shopping centers.

Sorry.Owning a retail business has a lot of challenges. 

Rents don’t keep pace with property values so we invest in other markets.

The idea is that I would buy it and then start fixing it up as we go, to bring it up to where we'd want it to be at our pace.