Changed the paint color in the master bath, it was a neon pink on the trim and changed the exterior color from peach to a medium grey which improved the appearance greatly.

For this reason I was considering reducing our contributions down to the bare minimum this year, and putting the money I would normally contribute aside for a rental investment.

Now you can barely find a single family home for less than 2 mil.

As I said, my brother and I barely know this lady. 

Buy right, do the bare minimum, and get it on the market fast. 40k max.

I recommend high grading your properties to an absolute bare minimum 100k arv areas and to ensure expenses are reasonable 120k arv for single family. 

Depending where in the country u are 70k might go a long way in real estate, while in some places that's barely a down payment.

Bathrooms - Must be fully functional.Pools - Equipment must be functional and water must be clear enough to see bottom.Paint - No peeling paint (especially if date of construction is pre-1978).Floors - No bare concrete.

It's barely science anyway, since it depends almost completely on the whims, actions and reactions of humans, a species that acts quite irrationally most of the time and cannot be trusted to act irrationally in the same fashion most of the time.

If you numbers are accurate. 20k rehab nets you 274k of equity, unlikely.  20k rehab would be a bare bones rehab.