You can identify the potential risks in each step, identify possible triggers for those risks, determine how you will notice if one of them is about to move from a risk to a real issue, and pre-identify mitigation strategies. 

The second risk that presents itself is a bidding war for an identified property which raises the price of the property beyond a profitable threshold.

And with the 1031, if you do the delayed exchange you'll put yourself under time pressure to both identify your next property (upleg) and then to buy it.You can also refi.  

Obviously I realize that this is just a simple rule-of-thumb, but I couldn't help but notice that I can't identify any properties meeting this criteria right form the very outset.  

I've identified the neighborhoods I'm interested in farming, and started building my mailing list. 

Have you identified the market you are comfortable investing in? 

After you look at enough properties, you will be able to identify a good deal.Good luck!

My concerns also center around following the umpteen million rules from the real estate manual to include, using the approved forms (I know some wholesalers have their own contracts - we have to use approved forms), not sign-crossing, identifying commission versus assignment fee, "broker has equity", etc. etc, etc.. 

After you read through it, start small in your local area and start to identify areas you want to invest in. 

But the numbers look like this:Plans 2k (off shelf, pre-made, bought and modified), Permits not identified, Demo 5k (600 sq ft tear down house), building 130/sq ft (finish material on roof and flooring not to exceed $2/sq ft).