for wholesaling, is there a sensible business model where I would be the financial backer and work with an existing realtor that knows the local wholesale market and have us share profit once the property is sold?

BUT, I am a Quantitative Finance major (investment management, risk management, securities evaluation), so I have knowledge in financial modelling, programming, time series analysis.

Which model is better suited for estimating the expenses of SFRs in hot markets (like Seattle) with purchase prices exceeding $350,000?

Which model is better suited for estimating the expenses of SFRs in hot markets (like Seattle) with purchase prices exceeding $350,000?

You need to understand cash flow modeling, discounting, IRR, capm, etc. 

There business model is they need like 50 agents sending them business.

There are a few different business models - from pay per click to all you can eat, but we all get our base information from the county recorder and assessors offices.

The more and more I listen to him, the more intrigued I become about using his model and actually purchasing homes through his company. 

Same exact house models on her same block have sold earlier this year (February) for 395k and 445k.

There are two types of IRA plans, those where a trust company serves as custodian and processes all investment transactions, or the Checkbook IRA LLC format, where such an IRA is subsequently invested into a specially created LLC that allows you to execute plan transactions out of a bank account of your choosing.Do some reading here and on the internet at large and then call a few of the firms that specialize in this field to get a feel for which plan type will best suit your investment goals and which provider will give you the best overall value of business model, access to advisory services, and cost.