We're in the painting business, which isn't that great of a business, especially in Ga.

Some background: my friend is a tenant who has been living rent-free in a unit for over ten years but is a professional painter and has been painting numerous properties/units for the landlord in lieu of rental payments.

I also did the kitchen - cabinets, floors, paint, fan, countertops, appliances, backsplash.  

Those are just 'very, very rough guidelines', I'd say my last 3-5 flips average out to about $13-14 per sq ft - Kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, paint inside and out, one or two of the major systems (roof, windows, furnace, water heater), etc.  

I understand that I could paint them.

I usually look for minor value add opportunities, like paint, drywall, and other cosmetic improvements that can quickly make properties much more appealing.Best of luck investing!

On paper it looks like really tight margins, but if it's more or less walk in and paint, there might be an opportunity. 

Examples of these categories would include things like foundation, painting & flooring, windows, bathroom, etc.

Fenced in yard, and a detached 2 car garage(that needs to be scraped and painted).  

Now these are the options lets paint a little picture... when it comes to market investing, holding for a long time no matter the risk/reward of the stock, usually equalizes the return because over a longer holding period the ROE usually ends up in the positive.