I did walk away basically breaking even (probably out a few grand, but not losing my shirt) and with a much better respect and eye for a "great deal." 

I would consider a HELOC if you walked into that much equity.

You are not obligated to make upgrades -- especially if they saw the property and walked it before they signed the lease and or if they sent you back the property inspection sheet from when they first moved in and did not request anything be repaired or upgraded.

I typically walk the properties for them, facetime and help analyze the deals prior to them coming up to view themselves.

@Isaac Lane Try to find a good contractor that can walk the properties for you to give you an estimate of what the cost will be to rehab/renovate everything.

If you can walk some properties that local flippers have done they can give you more information.

HOWEVER, whoever walked the property for you, SHOULD have known what violations needed to be repaired.

BTW who is walking the property for you? 

@Amby BhagtaniAnalyzing a market Sperling’s Best Placeshttp://www.bestplaces.net/School Diggerhttps://www.schooldigger.com/State & Localhttps://www.statelocalgov.net/GeoMetrxhttps://geometrx.com/Social Explorerhttps://www.socialexplorer.com/Justice Maphttps://justicemap.org/Google Earth / Google Maps / Street ViewFree Map Tools – Elevation Finderhttps://www.freemaptools.com/elevation-finder.htmCensushttps://www.census.gov/https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs.htmlhttps://data.census.gov/https://censusreporter.org/https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221City-datahttp://www.city-data.com/Socialexplorerhttp://www.socialexplorer.com/Costarhttp://www.costar.com/Colliershttp://www.colliers.com/en-us/usDepartment of Numbershttps://www.deptofnumbers.com/Data USAhttps://datausa.io/Bureau of Economic Analysishttps://www.bea.gov/https://www.bea.gov/itable/Bureau of Labor Statisticshttps://www.bls.gov/St Louis Fedhttps://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/Zumperhttps://www.zumper.com/NMHChttps://www.nmhc.org/research-insight/quick-facts-figures/Apartment Listhttps://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimatesStats Americahttps://www.statsamerica.org/town/Reventurehttps://map.reventure.app/dashboardSafety/Crime StatisticsSpotcrimehttps://spotcrime.com/ Family Watch Doghttp://www.familywatchdog.us/Neighborhood Scouthttps://www.neighborhoodscout.com/City Protecthttps://cityprotect.com/ Crime Mappinghttps://www.crimemapping.com/ Walkability Walk Scorehttps://www.walkscore.com/Checking RentsRentometerhttps://www.rentometer.com/Apartsments.comhttp://www.apartments.com/Apartment Guidehttp://www.apartmentguide.com/Craigslisthttps://www.craigslist.org/about/sitesZillowhttps://www.zillow.com/

I walked away from a successul 20-year career as an HR Director in Silicon Valley to do this full fime and I have nearly replaced my corporate income.