My property structure value was 74% but I have a nicer house on a cheap lot. 

So many cheap owners won't let their PMCs address many repairs - then throw their PMC under the bus when there's a lawsuit!

Cheap quick and easy: trim trees, mulch around base of trees (mulch is $2/bag at lowes right now), remove window bars, pressure wash, add some landscaping to front flowerbeds (I typically do rocks w/ flowering plants, lots of people do mulch there too) and remove the bushes, and possibly add some landscape blocks around the front flowerbed areasIs this a flip or a rental?

Investing OOS is neither easy nor cheap.

It’s amazingly cheap and stable.

No cheap strategy to explore without spending thousands on a cistern tank, deep water well, or trucking water to the property yearly.

There is no "cheap" way to do this sort of thing.

A property came up that's in a good area, my back yard (Rochester NY), seemed cheap compared to the neighborhood, and wanted some practice.

I'm thinking if you're only here for 3 years, rent...and as cheap as you can. 

Management was negligent in that there solution for everything except the most dire problems was your rent is so cheap deal with it and nothing ever got done.