Full Gut or Basic Face Lift?

[Danielle Shulman]

If you are looking for an investment property, what appeals to you most, a full-gut rehab or a basic "face-lift"?  Why?

We started out working with full-gut rehabs but noticed on these 100 year old Chicago homes, we run into so many more structural issues than we'd like to see. This in-turn takes longer and cost much more.  We recently have adapted to what we call, "lipstick rehabs."  These lipsticks include new flooring, counters, appliances, removal of one or two  non-structural walls, and  as much cosmetic fixes as we can do. This allows us to flip the property in roughly 30 days.

As an investor, what plan is most-appealing?