We have quite a few finance professionals who have come to the "dark side" of real estate investing.  

It can support multiple color-coded calendars for different rentals.

They're darkly scary when the mania is a race to the bottom. 

However, fair housing laws as interpreted by the California courts make the process a little more complicated.Fair Housing FoulThe Unruh Civil Rights Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act prevent landlords from discriminating between would-be tenants on the grounds of their sex, race, color, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, ancestry, national origin, source of income, disability or medical condition.

It is amazing how in that Dorchester market and nearby, simple things like adding a more modern backsplash or refinishing and whitewashing the old hutch (most of these old condos have a built in hutch in the dining area that is super dark/old looking), can gain big $$ in the valuation of the property.

They look at the useless and unreliable (and cheap) contractors and figure that it's a simple model... then they look at a very useful and reliable (and expensive) contractor and start trying to figure out how to get the expensive one to behave (AKA: Price) like the cheap one while remaining useful and reliable.The problem is that the useful, reliable (expensive) contractor is never going to agree to work for the kind of terms an investor wants in a 'partner' ... the dark truth is that a useful, reliable contractor who has been in business long enough could probably flip houses if they wanted to (many do), and the investor isn't adding anything that the contractor couldn't get through a lending bank.Also, the business model of even a mid-sized successful construction business is fairly complicated and involves cost models that look like never-ending rabbit holes of complexity... and most investors (most people period) absolutely cannot believe how much it truly costs to be in business, to say nothing of remaining profitable.

I don't doubt he's successful with this realm, but no one is immune from making off color assumptions such as 'my standard of living being poor'.  

What color would mix well with this brick?

Depending on how many sq.ft. you need and the price/color(s) you're looking for, they may be a good fit.

Our local military population is mostly National Guard, but last month I took the kids to an event put on by the FRG that was co-sponsored by a mortgage company that handed out goodie bags (coloring pages, candy, logo pens and travel mugs) to all the parents and kids with a flyer and business card explaining VA loans, eligibility, costs, etc.