I guarantee if you spend the hours going door to door, yes literally door 2 door, presenting self and talking to people, you will get 10X the deals you'd ever get trying to pitch your buy-box to a bunch of wholesalers or agents. 

But ultimately, you should still do manual calculations to make sure you are buying within your buy box. 

To find real flippers and build a reliable team, lead with value and tight filters: define your flip box, then post and ask at local meetups, investor FB groups, and supply houses for intros to GCs, agents, and lenders who’ve closed multiple flips this year; run quick interviews, verify with photos, permits, and past HUDs, and start them on a small, time‑boxed task to test communication, updates, and workmanship before giving bigger scopes.

So far I have a location  and buy box from the company that will be renting my properties long term, they will sign 5-7 year lease.

From a tax perspective, the IRS typically allows pre-rental work (like the hours you spent getting the property ready) to count toward material participation if it’s directly related to getting the property ready for rent.

The turnkeys we have in Detroit have been performing really well, steady cash flow, low hassle, and they fit right into your buy box for long-term rentals.We also work with several out-of-state investors, and what’s been great is seeing how consistent the returns are and how it’s helped our investors grow their portfolios with confidence.

My buy box is SFR 3 bed, 2 bath, less than 2,000 sqft. and below 800k. 

I'm looking to get a sense of what these type of deals look like in NYC so when I'm negotiating with the seller I know exactly where price and rents need to be to hit a general buy box. 

My wife and I spent 10 years living abroad, and love expat life.

So, I made $23,000 in a few days on a property I spent $100 on.