I maybe would have continued the same hardwood from living areas to kitchen and gone with a different paint for the bathrooms, but that's my aesthetic. 

I believe this could be a much quicker answer to my project, while still remaining aesthetically pleasing and durable for tenant abuse.  

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).

Finding cashflow will be in improving those market rents through cycling tenants and improving the inward and outward aesthetics as well!

Now, I understand these other appliances have the aesthetic factor to be weighted in but when it comes to old A.C units I'll run them till the last breath from now on...

Indio is nice but it's a different target market in Indio vs JT and a successful STR is predicated on being able to taylor the property's aesthetics to the target customer.