In other words you receive a 30% tax credit on the solar system as well as a 30% tax credit at the least on the roof that is under the solar system (full roof 30% depends on the advice of your CPA).Couple that with the roof now becoming a producing asset and offsetting the utility bill instead of a liability and the increase in appraised home value assuming the solar system is not leased then going solar makes a lot of sense at the same time as replacing/repairing a roof.

The 401(k) will not have sheltered the gain in value and you will likely end up in a very high tax bracket in the year of distribution.The better strategy is to focus the 401(k) capital on the investment(s) that will produce the best results for the plan, not something you are personally interested in.If the plan held a property that performed well for 5, 10 or 15 years to the point of your retirement, then have the plan sell that property. 

If it's a long term buy and hold it's not a huge deal as long as it produces enough cash flow to be worth it.I would pay a couple hundred dollars for a structural engineering report and take a reputable mason to evaluate it as well. 

I also have  a garden and chickens so maybe a little fresh produce could sweeten the deal!

But if you are in it for the long term and have the goal of acquiring many of them to produce income, then I think its worth looking into.

Educated buyers are only going to purchase a property that can produce a decent return, and that means total revenue minus total costs. 

@Walter Ciucevich If you are holding these as rental properties to produce income, I am not sure why ARV is important to you.

It would probably help if the story you told was about accessing the equity to purchase further income producing assets rather than fly to the caribbean and buy an Audi.By putting together a small but professional looking package and going to sit down with some community banks in person, I think you'll get a tremendous amount of experience and straight feedback on what's possible or not and why.Good luck!

If it has rent control then the rent appreciation is constrained and rent control affects market appreciation.I have purchased a property that penciled out at cash flow neutral (including vacancy, maintenance, cap expense, misc costs estimates) that produced great ROI. 

Most will not coop with other agents who produced a buyer.