I.e if you are in a place with long, cold winters and where the norm is to construct {residential} properties with full basements, then an uninsulated, yet conditioned, basement could be the source of 20+% of your heat loss.Dustin - a 3.5" air gap may be reasonable in Kansas (if you wall assembly was air tight ... even then I am doubtful) - however, it does nothing about the 12 - 15% of your wall that is framing and a thermal bridge.When it comes to windows, there are advantages to triple glazing and inert gases (though they do eventually normalize with the atmosphere) ... however a well-built double glazed window with an insulated frame will match, or out perform a triple glazed window with your run-of-the-mill aluminium or vinyl frame.   

@Aquila PhillipsGo to local REI meetups in your area, be there consistently and make sure you have some business cards.Talk to a bunch of people, and eventually you will figure out who's active and not.

Is starting out my real estate investing career with wholesaling as a stepping stone to eventually buying and holding properties for cash flow as common or realistic as everyone makes it seem?

My goal is 5 years.My husband works on roofs as a solar installer and hopes to get off the roof and away from the long hours eventually.

Thanks for the reply @John HornerI'm looking to increase my buy-and-hold portfolio (preferably with MF and/or off-campus student housing, but open to SF as well).Would eventually like to get involved with some syndicates- I'm still learning more about those right now.Really just started getting serious about real estate within the last 8 months, but have some investors and am working on getting connected with a property management company soon hopefully.

If no water flows into it and it never rains it will eventually dry up.

I can only put hope on the high deposit if eventually major cleaning is needed.  

We had hoped to eventually redeem the certificate and obtain a tax deed for the property to build a home on; however, our circumstances changed and we have a different target in mind. 

Feel free to message me if you are a wholesaler yourself, or may know a direction I could go to eventually meet some in my area.

@Nathan G.I feel it will harm the tenants eventually in the same manner that rent control has the propensity for lackadaisical landlording.