Partially because most of the folks doing it are so inexperienced and solely money driven that they're not the best to do business with, and because they're basically buying people's houses for less than they could get putting them on the MLS.I've personally had 5-10 "wholesalers" reach out to me to learn my buy box.

The trick?

My wife is a stay-at-home mom but handles leasing, tenant issues, repairs—basically runs the rentals.We’re exploring if she can qualify for Real Estate Professional Status to offset my W2 income.

If anyone has tips and tricks for finding private investors please share them with me. thanks! 

A helpful trick is to completely ignore the rents the buildng comes with and figure out the actual market rents you can get. 

Are tenants over-riding them with zip ties or other tricks?

Explored a bit about taxes, credit, types of bank accounts, even the diabolical "due date advancement" trick on the student loan system here in the US. 

I would start by reading JScott's Book on Estimating Rehab Costs to learn the basics. 

Are you cool with breaking even upfront for long-term gains, or do you have tricks to squeeze out more monthly profit?

I am always happy to help offer some tips, tricks and fool proof steps to help build your REI portfolio.