The school of hard knocks (getting stuck with a hammer or paint brush in my hand, whenever a carpenter disappeared on me) was invaluable and nothing, I mean NOTHING, can teach you as being immersed in it.

Now while I know there are landlords who let their houses fall into disrepair and don't care and I would consider them slumlords I think many people paint all landlords in these areas with the same brush and would label them all slumlords because of where they invest.Although I could not invest places like this I do think investors in these areas do something in that they provide housing and preserve some value in areas that would become abandoned or squatters areas.

If it is just for interiors, just get good at rolling and cutting in with a brush.

This put downward pressure on market prices and cause neighborhoods to decline.a rapid population increase will cause a shortage of housing, and this will tend to increase rents and prices.We are not talking about identifying specific up and coming neighborhoods on their way to gentrification, this is very hard to do without being very familiar with a given neighborhood, but about painting the states with a very wide brush and see what cities are going to grow at a macro level.The list below has links to the wikipedia demographics section.The 1 minute tour of relevant US citiesCities with secular demographic downtrend: Detroit MICleveland OHBirmingham ALCities with stable long term demographics: Kansas City MOIndianapolis INMemphis TNCities with secular demographic uptrend: Tampa FLAtlanta GADallas Fort Worth TXCharlotte NCCities that became too expensive for turnkey: Las Vegas NVOrlando FLPhoenix AZ

I've been brushing up on Fair Housing and I'm not sure about this distinction.

started selling fuller brush at 14 door to door.. bagged groceries.. went to collage for a year did not like it.. got my RE license at 18  and my brokers at 20  top producer within 2 years.. never looked back. on the job training as it were..

However, when someone puts you in that category, it would be best to brush it off and let work ethic speak for itself.

The other cheap update you could do is to but in some brushed nickel or oil rubbed bronze towel holders, toilet paper holders, etc (whichever matches the faucets).

Torch, brushes, sandpaper, solder, and flux.  

I would not paint that broad of a brush as to the realtors.