I do know the area pretty well from running sales leads in my day job there.

every seminar that you buy will only lead you to another training and another training and another....go to meetup.com and find meetups that you can go to for little to no money and network and learn as much as possible.

It seems to me there is one extra person in the this equation....I would think if I'm paying for a lead that leads me to a deal I close, that lead should be with the actual seller and not another wholesaler if I'm doing all my own negotiations???

Also, you can do some advertising for short sale leads, and let the leads contact the realtor.

I remove all spigots leading outside for this reason.

Great points made above....Here is some better advice as to my last suggestion of just pouring the floor...LOLGet that sub that has more experience with the city and incorporate him as your lead contractor to deal with the city as you go along, pay him a bit more to act as the GC in areas of running the job per the plans and specs, with you having final authority.

. - I know SDIRA's have arms length prohibited transactions as well, which lead me to believe I couldn't invest in my own projects. i.e. couldn't use the funds to purchase a house for rehab through my LLC.Do you know if the 401K(solo)'s arms length prohibited transactions are the same as SDIRA arms length prohibited transacation?

Meaning...You need sellers and buyer leads.

We would help the students set up marketing, and when they got leads, they would expect us to handle them for them.

Those other 8 may be short sales, lease options, wraps....whatever. if its not one of your exit strategies, find someone who can use it and split the deal, get a referral fee, etc.Monetize your "trash" leads and you'll never run out of marketing dollars.