I'd agree with your initial post...If you're finding the offmarket deals yourself (and not having fat trimmed by a wholesaler/agent), you could still make it happen depending on your location. 

Just asking as a novice person reading this trading naked would be a risky bet.Since the volatility is so high, spreads are pretty fat right now,but don't know when it will drop to grab the premium ;)----For the other answers,  we are in an unchartered market.

Take a client to lunch in their BMW, then go to a couple closings to collect fat commission checks.

Dreams of starting with nothing, spending no time working on your business and having fat paydays are just that - dreams.

@Peter Vekselman  was not insinuating your a wannabee wholesaler my point was I could  see wanna be wholesalers not running title and getting fubared at the end.I just bought one in Charleston again exact same issue.. wholesaler brings it to me... we decide on price.. only to find out the lady owed more than what they were selling me the house for .. they were bummed  what they thought was a fat deal turned out not to be I still bought it but at my terms not theirs. 

Insurers would charge more for high risks (fat, smoke).

At that point I hope you have a good fat security deposit because that’s what I would use to reimburse myself for the unpaid utilities.

Yeah fat chance.

Where have they trimmed the fat?

Make sure your investment property supports itself in a way in which it does not matter the external conditions.Here's a dumb analogy that I like to illustrate the situation:The way I see it is if your cow gives you milk every day, you will not care how fat it is, however if you need to slaughter it to eat, you will definitely want it to be fat and that may not be the case.All the best to you!