So my question:  Would you simply fix it with a new faucet/vanity and knock out half of the updating with the tenant living there by just doing those 2 things?

Knock out something every day and it will be 1 less thing on the list.  

Plant red double knockout roses.

That would knock out most of the buying competition.  

I'm living in one unit while renovating it, I work out of town as an IBEW lineman which has made it difficult to "knock out" the reno.  

I want to knock out as many properties as possible within 3 years.

I read that the first mortgage always knock out the subsequent mortgages.

Turnover can knockout and neutralize those aggressive bumps in rent.  

To quickly knock out calculations in naval engineering, we'll often rely on "rules of thumb".  

I could try raising capital for this but I'm afraid it's risky and maybe picking up a Small Multifamily would be a good place to start, knock out my housing expense, and then I can leverage the property to go for the former.