Learn what exactly goes into a wholesale deal before you start spending money on marketing and whatnot.

Planning on curving out some time to spend a couple of days in Chicago and target specific areas of interest.

For example if you only want to spend $100,000 on a property you will eliminate markets like Los Angeles and New York because properties aren't available at that price in those locations.

I'm still really new, but I'm not a fan of this option because of the lack of control.

There are some alternative structures using LLCs within tax-advantaged account that that give you total control of your assets and keep costs down. 

He does nothing but get  a check each month.Buying an apartment building doesn't usually make sense with 2 million as not enough doors at that price to get passive.He could 1031 exchange into a DST or TIC but he gives up control of his hard earned money for retirement whereas if he exchanges into a property he owns 100% then he can decide what to do.You could also look at the owner finance with some down.

I mean I guess I could I would just have to pay closing cost again and I don't want to spend $3k to do that.

In my area those are either super run down duplexes or in super sketchy areas.My next plan was to try to find a decent single family home with multiple bedrooms and rent out the other rooms, but I wanted to try to avoid the whole roommate situation.My next plan was to try to buy a condo or townhouse because they are cheaper, but then I am paying the entire mortgage myself for about the same price as just renting an apartment.Do any of these ideas sound worth it and possible with only being able to spend a maximum of 7k out of pocket?

I understand its $700 bucks, but it may just be the best $700 you ever spend.

I am not an attorney (disclaimer) but if your contract states they must have your consent to spend anything over $500 and they failed to get your consent, I can't see how a judge would not see things in your favor.