I also have one neighborhood that I am hoping to purchase an SFH as an appreciation play.

But she takes excellent care of them (even put in a small concrete pool for them to play in during the summer:-).

Depending on what you want to do and what role you want to play, would depend on how you should go about it. =)

The property cash flows and I could definitely see each investor making at least $1000/mo with the most hands-off approach of renting to an operator and much more if a person ran it as STR or LTR and it is a great diversification play for me as Costa Rica should see much better appreciation than the Midwest, but if I were to cash out I could see five times the cash flow because of the power of leverage.But I think you hit the nail on the head in saying that it is a lifestyle type of investment.  

Cities don't play fair when they decide to go after you.One thing I would also suggest you do is look on AirBnB for the specific building you want to buy in. 

the one that broke even was a fix and flip play that the fix happened but the flip did not work. 

And the reason why your "tale of two halves" will play out as you described.Demand:  This has actually been high almost all along, but rent growth hasn't materialized in response due to high levels of new supply. 

The rooms are unfurnished and the tenants are very low-maintenance (hardly know they are there). 2+Unit Buildings here and nearby currently sell for $1.5M on average.I bought the property 16 years ago, so my mortgage rate is very low (2.2%) Even though the property is cashflow positive, my bigger play is the average 5% yearly appreciation.I'm looking for others who are interested in house-hacking in this neighborhood. 

The article below sheds light on how DSCRs come into play with the BRRRR method.

Real estate investing is a team sport and at different points in the game different players will play more important roles.