These are great places to meet other licensed agents and to discuss buyer and seller needs that everyone has.Every now and then, you'll meet someone with a buyer looking for exactly what your seller has.

I had a difficult time myself in the past qualifying for a mortgage to purchase my primary home because of self employment.Dodd Frank is what switched many independent investors from doing traditional in-house seller financing, to doing lease options or other similar RTOs to try to get around some of the regulations.

Seller is asking $240k.

This also helps motivate renters because they see other interested parties and feel the competition.

You'll likely have more opportunities with going after listings, since you don't have to convince the seller to take a low price but you still get paid when they sell. 

Right now the multi-family market is hot so there are more buyers than sellers, you may have some better opportunities with SFH's.There are some great books out there that will help you such as @Brandon Turner 's 'The Book on Rental Property Investing'.

Telling your buyers rehab is $20k, and the house needs everything, I see laughable and will only end with no buyer, and the wholesaler backing out leaving the actual seller high and dry.

I decided its time to start talking to some people about what im doing. turns out a family member was a motivated seller , long story short I bought a 200m2 piece of land in Baja California with an amazing beach view. lots of development is happening.

Any advice to convince the seller to pay the closing costs or at least part of it?

I am hearing of some high LTV stuff and banks allowing seller seconds and people just treating money like it comes out of a water fountain