And at least in my experience, vinyl siding has a definite downside visually and aesthetically.

Use of sturdy materials (although not necessarily the most aesthetic) generally works better than spending on lower quality materials which look nicer.

How would the aesthetics of the park (or apartments) affect the value?

Every day, I disprove conceptions that aesthetic improvements are the most important to increase home values, and that efficiency improvements are too expensive to make.

Aesthetic improvements, such as replacing perfectly good laminate counters with granite is not compensable.You can rent it or live in it yourself.All of this assumes the tax sale was not void because of the prior owner dying before the auction, but the property not being assessed in the new owners' name. 

Im a real estate agent in Atlanta, GA; so naturally Im interested in location but also in aesthetics of a home.

Don't get me wrong; there are plenty of issues/problems/quirks that old houses have that new houses don't, and an old house can obviously have hidden problems and big repair/maintenance bills too--which is why thorough due diligence is fundamental to REI...but, the point is: a brand new house is not a foolproof solution to repairs/maintenance headaches (and in some cases, a brand new house can be a much bigger gamble than an older house).This is a particularly important lesson for inexperienced investors, who tend to be the most prone to "shiny object syndrome" (the tendency to let nice aesthetics distract from real, underlying issues).

Cort can be great because they sell off their older furniture that they no longer rent, but in my opinion the aesthetic looks just like a hotel and that is not what I'm going for so I stay away from them.

If you cannot make the numbers work for an A property in an A location, I would stick with the great location and look for a big of a fixer that will attract the great tenants once you make it more aesthetically appealing.

The city should be considered with the functionality and safety of the roof, not the aesthetics.