Time is your enemy and even if you take a loss here, it could be better than gambling on waiting it out.

I am from Windsor, just across the border.  

However asking people about the market is just as much of a gamble as going down to the strip and asking which slot machine is doing the best or which table can I win on.

The rent is down at present due to economy, Swine flu scares, and fear of Border drug wars(which Cancun is several thousand miles away from).

Investing without education is just gambling.

Your are better off taken the conservative route than taken a gamble about the future. 

You are trying to show a $60k increase in 8 months - show why your purchase was at a discount and where the market is.This is a duplex - so the appraisal will probably be about $600 - worth the gamble. but don't get carried away making improvements that may increase marketability but not value.

Rehabbers and developers including myself are already being pushed down to the southern border of Point Breeze and into West Passyunk to get in on the lower prices while we can and I don't see it stopping any time soon.

Counting on appreciation is akin to gambling . . . use the variables that you have at least some control over to make decisions.

Some might even say gambling.