I had an iHome WiFi multi sensor to verify temps, noise and light in the house, but it recently stopped working on my network so I am on the hunt for a replacement.Those are the bare minimums in my opinion.

It sold for $44K and would take 50K to fix up and even then value would be barely $125K. 

In this case the seller would really have to be willing to walk away since there's barely any equity

If you live on a market where the average home price is $200k, that means that if you sell 1 property a month you woudl have sold $2.4 Million in RE and will make in income anywhere from $48k to $72k per year.I know agents that sell/buy $10million in real state and others that barely sell anything.

Homebuilders could literally double construction and barely keep up with the inflow of population.

& as it's the proverbial flip, don't forget to deduct the 'income tax' due when you file for that year.I've had a couple of fellow investors realize that they barely broke even after ALL THAT WORK. 

If you buy a property in barely rentable condition and charge $600 rent, then you update it significantly and then charge $800 rent, should your estimate for repair costs increase or decrease?

By dated, do you mean it needs new paint & carpet, or are the bathrooms pink/baby blue and the kitchen cabinets falling apart?

The cash flow was barely in the low ten figures.

There are plenty of owners and managers out there still doing well with second hand furnishings and providing the bare minimum accommodations to budget travelers or short stay tenants.Once you figure out your niche in your market this answer will reveal itself to you.The key to quality vacation rentals that are more of hospitality experience is in the operations and management.