The guy was very nice and mostly professional, except he just kept delaying my job because he was busy on other projects and mine was small.

Let's say the girlfriend doesn't work, or makes minimal income--do you allow them to move in as long as their total "household" income meets the minimum standards, or do you require them to both earn enough income on their own to quality?

I understand the concepts of due diligence and delayed gratification, and expect the greatest success to come through educated trial and error.

The great thing about wholesaling is it only costs you time, and minimal marketing expense depending on what types you decide to use.

@Mike Buckley I would read Brandon Turners Book on investing in RE with no money down.Caveat about minimal down payments, if you go with traditional financing you will face PMI which can eat into your cash flow.

The extra 20% is just a cushion for the bank to minimize risk, in case values go down or if they have to foreclose. 

That being said there are often delays on international wires and you should send the wire at least 48 - 72 hours before any deadline.They will absolutely report it to the IRS.When they do it, it should be clear to the IRS that it a US citizen repatriating money for a real estate purchase.Of course repatriating a large amount more than you claim as income, could raise a red flag.There is a very important item you did not mention. 

You might want to consider a contract of sale with a delayed settlement, you hold the deed until sometime in the future where the buyer refinances the property and pays you all.So the contract is dated today 12/10/15, and the settlement date shall be in 36 months; buyers have rights of possession of the property, buyer is paying you X and a percentage of that X goes to reduce the principal amount or is consider part of the down payment, (or calculate the amortization amount to the principal).This way you are holding the deed (to be available) until the buyer performs.

As far as the timeframe, it went about a month or so over the original 3-month timeframe mostly due to weather delays for the kitchen addition (needed because of the original REALLY funky layout), lol.  

Great job, that is one of the keys to wealth,  Wealthy people can delay gratification, and are willing to work for it.