If I have a mud room or back porch, I'll hang some hooks for coats, leashes, bags etc...6.

If installing tile I would do 1/2" ply and then a 1/4" cement backer or a mud (thinset) base.

A 401k loan has some risks...get layed off and have to pay it back or pay the 10% early penalty as well as income taxes if you cannot.A self-directed IRA is the typical retirement savings vehicle to invest in RE but it has undesireable attributes too.If you are young, you could diversify internationally or dip a little into emerging markets....they are not as highly valued.

stick with regular mud-jacking which is concrete.

Threatening to sue me for something frivolous will get the tenant on my undesired list and has yet to result in an actual suit. 

If I raise the rents, I might run into the unfortunate situation of having high turn over within a short time and that will put me in an undesirable financial situation,especially when I am pouring in large amounts of cash into rehab. 

I did call the MUD office and they assured me that the water bill for the house was stable and very ordinary in price.I might add that my final price was 56% of a house that sold a few weeks later directly across the street. 50 sq ft larger and, of course, in much, much nicer condition.

@Charmaine M. marked rembert does raid some good points but for a buy and hold if you wait and search for the right deal you could do very will in Jamaica even south ozone park simply because I remember before I moved out of nyc I had friends living in what was affordable but undesirable areas like bush wick east New York and Canarsie....

They tell you they prefer to mud their wall holes and match the paint rather than the landlord doing it for $30 with a painter.

Does anyone have recommendations for neighborhoods within NYC or close-by New Jersey that are a combination of affordable but not totally undesirable?