The property is located in Erdenheim/Glenside and is currently mixed use (2 residential units and 1 XL office suite); we're trying to re-zone it to exclusively residential (5 units).

I guess I haven't used newspapers and I just tell all the neighbors.

I'd rather see the thing knocked down.Is this an accurate conclusion about the nature of cash flow investing to the exclusion of appreciation?

Your clientele will be a bit more exclusive but you are competing with established rentals, some by Wyndham that run up to and over $2K/night.I hear anecdotal info from local owners of some of these and they seem happy, but the numbers they through around are small returns.

@Brent PerkinsThere is good news, you can likely turn the property to a rental for 3 years and still be eligible for the section 121 exclusion($250,000 of capital gain or $500,000 if married filing jointly).

The key to being a wholesaler or investor is to have exclusivity.

He or she entered into an exclusive sales contract with you (and removed the property from the market) based on a set of terms that presumably did not, at the time, include the first floor unit being vacant prior to transfer of title.

The point is Athens would be a good place to start your investing career.You should research a few strategies which are not mutually exclusive -- student housing, short-term rentals, co-living, house hacking, and BRRR.  

I would get the capital gains exclusion on the unit I lived in.

And I did note that some of the tax  statements contained an exclusion (per the new tax law) for Qualified Business Income which I assume is a benefit to investors...but again, I'm not a CPA.