If they could get out of their own way of their own regulation or reduce them for developers and charities to be able to build housing from say shipping containers,  or in older commercial buildings without having to do a full upgrade to modern standards.   

Will re doing the  properties siding and some exterior upgrades be sufficient enough to force the appreciation or is the only way to increase the appreciation is to rehab  each unit?

Whether to just gather up a bunch of properties, or keep selling to upgrade to more and larger multi-family units.  

I have lost tens of thousands of dollars over the last 15 years, of renters beating me out of rent, causing damage to my homes,  and including my holding costs, in addition to repair and upgrade costs.  

I am in Tyler, so just up the road from Jacksonville and not all that far from you guys in Nacogdoches/Lufkin areas.I got started a couple of years ago and purchased a 5% down property to live in while doing some upgrades and then purchased a 20% down investment property that I am about to resign my current tenants for another year on. 

The house was built in the 50's and the plumbing was upgraded at some point to copper and most of the major items were replaced at some point and time to meet more modern standards.

I am sure the electrical needs upgrading and I will need to add a bathroom to make it comparable (3bd/1ba).

I do have some equity in my primary residence since we did some major upgrades when we bought it.

@Hadar Orkibi, to give more insight on the $1.4M and rents that Ben mentioned: We're spending $7,300/unit on upgrading the interiors, so touching almost everything.

., cons: the home would require some upgrades to appliances and backyard to get top rental dollar)Leaning towards option 2 and like the idea of managing a property or two for steady cashflow.