I bet you have a 40gal tank.

Whites, grays, neturals are safe bets.

If you want a safer bet but with out much cash flow stick to the areas with the best school districts.  35758, 35801, and 35803. 

I think this may be the safer bet - save up, renovate, and after kitchen is done refinance and buy new house.

I would like to scale up and to bet on apriciation might not help me much in doing that.

.- Your best bet will be pulling comps in the area and trying to put together an offer that reflects the average value of the comps and the price of the brand new condo.

And each buyer in turn will spend way more than necessary on due diligence until a sucker who doesn't perform due diligence comes along and buys this property worth way less than it appears.I'm wondering if the Real Estate Commissions in the involved states (NJ for the property, CA for the auction company) allow this kind of non-disclosure?

A little cash cushion is a good bet for you right now.Best of luck to you and I look forward to following your journey!

It looks like you have room to go up in price if you need to and I bet if you were in the 50s, you would get a counter.

@Angello Campbell- Be careful betting on appreciation alone.