I ended up replacing a tar roof on front because it looked too shabby after the full rehab.

On the other hand, our house has a brand new roof, brand new hot water heater and recently renovated kitchen with newer appliances.

After the market crashed in 2008 we went on a buying spree from about 2009 until 2015/6 (buy & hold) until the numbers didn't make as much sense as the prices started creeping up again, rent prices were flat and many competitors started entering the marketplace.  

So now when they travel to Paducah KY for their kids traveling sports tournament, they are searching out Airbnb's instead of the Hampton Inn, in a town no one thinks of as an Airbnb hotspot.For work travel I'll stay in a hotel, but for ANY and ALL family travel, there's no way I'm giving up having a separate room for each of my kids.My mountain market revenue is flat-ish to up, but that's because I took over management from a PM and was able to do a much better job, so it's hard to get a pulse on my local market.

As Don mentioned above 20% or less of equity in a market that is flat or falling is NO equity if you need to exit.

After swallowing some lumps thanks to one thread I posted back in April, I should (crossed fingers, no blown furnaces or sheard off roofs) be in a good position next year to reinvest.This is hopefully not a beat the dead horse, "where is the best cash flow in X" post, more of a strategy question for anyone who knows the market in CT.Here is what my limited knowledge/intuition tells me: Waterbury, Bridgeport, parts of Hartford cash flow best because of the inherent risk, lower fairfield county cash flows worst (today) because of NYC effect on price/rent, and there is an in-between SOMEWHERE.I think that somewhere is in the central part of the state between route 8 and 91 north of new haven, east of waterbury.

You need a place to live, so find something that provides a roof over your head and the potential for a return.I know a guy that buys fixer-uppers, lives in them for a couple years, renovates along the way, then sells for a profit.

On another occasion I had them inspect the property after purchase and they informed me that due to the condition of the roof they were raising my deductible on any roof damage to $5K instead of the $2.5K for the rest of the property until I installed a new roof.   

On a few occasions I negotiated a flat rate of $4000 because brought the buyer and just wanted them to do the paperwork.

They are willing to sell, but it would need to be at a good price because it needs things that my side already had done (roof update, windows).