Good day, I recently signed up to take the Than Merrill class to be a Wholesale Investor, any tips on how to be successful at this and what steps to take initially as a beginner?

Congrats,  with you achieving your initial goal whats the plan for your next year in real estate also how did you finance your other investment proporties.

get an FHA 3.5% down " an expert is some one who can see past the obvious path and helpIf you are going to open market , try to get referrals from your agent , contractor or any body who is in real estate business - Also keep in mind  that there are lot of lenders/brokers who change the terms at the last moment , so even if you hear what you want to hear initially - make sure you have references and a solid backup

Assume a good quality $375k 2bd/1or2bth duplex 4.75% rate, 20% down, $5k closing costs (assume $60k of needed $80 will come from father technically), no initial repairs needed.

The way I see it is the rentals I am looking to purchase will generate cash-flow and any appreciation is a bonus.

The fact that someone is able to look at two paths (Wholesaling & Real Estate Brokering) and is not smart enough to see which one has more income generating opportunity tells me that they aren't sophisticated critical thinkers.

I travel frequently to Newark, Delaware for work though, so my initial search area is the area west of I-476 in PA to Newark, DE.

. , @Jason Dillard is spot on with regard to eligibility for 1031 and the way to mitigate.If your goal is to be a fixer flipper or a wholesaler as he is and can generate the velocity needed then he's probably right in his assessment that you can make more cash flow flipping or wholesaling (although the net tax difference dissipates most of that differential). 

I live in the Baltimore, MD area, but will be moving to the Albany, NY area in a couple months.I am interested in the idea of using creative financing to generate passive income through real estate.

A leveraged property in an IRA should still generate significantly higher cash-on-cash return than an all cash purchase.