It's a great vehicle for investing (we have 37 doors)... but we bought them from 2018-2021 and they cash-flow extremely well.  

Of course you can make RE work anywhere, but if your real goal is to retire within 30 years, using Real Estate as your vehicle.....and if you are serious about this.....then you owe it to yourself to at least consider moving to an area where Real Estate is easier.

You gotta love those income vehicles spitting out safe interest. 

Not sure why it matters what home values are as long as I am bringing in heavy cashflow. 

Almost all the gurus push the idea of heavy leverage.

If it were mine I would replace the roof, including any roof decking underneath the shingles that need to be replaced, and look into the cost of doing a ridge vent at the top.As far as the air conditioning system , you might be replacing a well built heavy duty unit with something that has a much shorter service life and instead of using freon it uses some incredibly expensive chemical . 

I personally love house hacking, as it is a great way to reduce your largest expense, get into a property with some of the best financing vehicles available, and also sharpen your land lording skills. 

In that case, of course we're selling at market price since all the heavy lifting is done for the investor.The scenario @Paul Sverdlin mentioned is a bit insane as it sounds like the provider is putting the rehab on the investor but also taking the equity.

But due to the above factors- we're still in a hot and heavy seller's market, with no real relief in sight for buyers (add to that, with the new Burnett / National of Realtors settlement, they will be squeezed even further, having to also potentially shell out their Buyer's agent fees, which, traditionally, have been added into the seller's listing price before listing to provide to the Buyer's agent).

I’ve got a distressed and on-market house that was recently completely renovated until the couple ran out of money (all of the heavy lifting has been done, just a few things left), and it is listed well below market price compared to surrounding comps I could find.