So I'm waiting on my first deal still, but there's a chance it falls through (condo, short sale, pending bank approval currently), and if it falls through, we're considering a 3-flat (house hacking), possibly on the southwest or west side of the city (following the pink line basically).From my admittedly little experience of the neighborhoods, are they showing any sign of appreciation or gentrification?

If you have lived in it 2 of the last 5 years, you can harvest that equity also. 

I'd just add a shower curtain rod and maybe change the pink to white and clean up grout lines with caulk. 

Fixing screw pops, patching holes, caulking here and there, color changes from pink and lime semigloss to a neutral color, and cleaning filthy walls down.

If the walls are painted back and ceiling pink, they do not care as long as the paint is not pealing.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

One pink bedroom needs to be painted and the carpet in all 3 bedrooms needs to be replaced.

Last Harvest kept me reading, and learning, with detailed discussions of what happens when residential developers try to change how land is acquired, planned, permitted, and developed.

We are harvesting about $150,000 of depreciation for 2018 with active real estate participation. 

The tiles in the hall bath were retro pink and we gave them a completely new look.