Purchase at 80% LTV cash neutral non-commercial residential, in 5 years have 50% appreciation (less than 10% annual and less than many markets have done in the last 5 years). 

Mine were cash flow neutral to positive 100 if I was lucky. so you can do the same in most markets.  50k increase in price point in the mid west is Huge move up in most markets.

But with all of the crazy over personalization ideas people get from home makeover shows, I don't want to deal with my nice neutral color paint job covered by little Johnny's alien adventures or a tribute wall dedicated to somebody's memorial, or who knows what else?

Did they achieve cash flow neutral after Property management & maintenance?  

I try to paint in between tenants with a neutral off white to keep things simple.

The average deals take the cash flow away from the other properties to a neutral position and also cause a drag on the overall portfolio being able to get new loans. 

When you apply the lender uses a neutral Management company to order the appraisal.

The biggest differences I've noticed have to do with:Where to get the list for your direct mail marketing - from a data service or directly from the county (my course teaches both ways and the pros and cons of each)What kind of mail piece to send out - postcards/neutral letters or blind offers (my course explains both, includes several mail templates for both strategies and explains the pros and cons of each)There are other subtle differences too with things like:What kind of pricing framework to use when sending offersWhat kind of software and services to useWhen the due diligence should be done during the processHow deep the due diligence research should goJust to clarify @Amy Aziz's point, the postcard approach is one of the direct mail strategies out there, but definitely not the only one I do (like anything, there are some scenarios when it makes sense and other scenarios when it doesn't).

It's neutral (I call it a greige - gray with an undertone of beige).   

I would have to acquire materials for post cards, but what appeals to me most about this is the lower cost, assuming it has a positive or at least neutral impact on my marketing.