Sounds like a gamble, but if the area is growing, you might want to let it ride for another year or two and reassess.

@Ryan Short gambling with life safety to make a few extra bucks isn’t for me

If you are into appreciating and have stomach for some gambling invest in Bay Area.

The first rule of gambling is never do it with money you can't afford to lose.  

@Xavier GarciaAs @Alexander Felice noted, the only one who "wins" in this situation, if we can call breaking the law for a net gain and gambling that one won't get caught "winning", is your employer.You're going to have to explain to lenders how it is you happen to be working but have no taxable income and are not filing income tax returns. 

Also you are probably going to gamble either way on appreciation because it is difficult to predict.

It's a gamble.

That's gambling.  

I feel like that is much more of a gamble, than a traditional just run down (or less than ideal) property.

I'm impressed that you're not willing to gamble on getting into  a bad situation due to low reserves.