IMO, at this time you'd be better off staying closer to the core of the city and looking for value add where you can force appreciate it to get an equity bump, hold for long term market appreciation, and cashflow as icing on the cake.

But my philosophy (and I believe @Nick S. also) that if it cash flows and the tenants are paying down the mortgage and in an area expected to be desirable in 10-15 years or whatever your time frame to exit might be), then it is worthwhile and any appreciation is "icing on the cake".  

I always look at appreciation as icing on the cake.

This can be done and is done all the time but I don't think this is something that is very scalable, or the most efficient use of time, especially the management part.Passive on the other hand is a cake walk for the investor Blake

Plus, your house will probably be worth more if/when go to sell later…or you could leverage it as others have suggested and eat your cake too.

On the mortgage broker side of things, I get to have my cake and eat it too.

Do you consider appreciation "icing on the cake" or part of your investing strategy? 

They are chosen more for their cash flow than appreciation, so the appreciation is the icing on the cake. 

You must first ask yourself what your goal is and what route you want to take to get there.Personally, I am looking for cash flow first and appreciation as icing on the cake.

Of the four homes I went in this week, one was decent (fairly clean, though needs flooring, paint, cabinets, appliances, etc), and the other three were a mess (trash all over, nasty carpets, old cakes on grease and cockroaches in the kitchen, etc).