.; major settling, serious foundation problems)...but even then, there are investors who specialize in buying and fixing those types of properties --again, the key is educating yourself so you know what you're getting into. ...it sounds as if maybe you're looking for a hard-and-fast rule like "DON'T buy a property with X", or "DO buy a property with Y"  --the reality is, REI is rarely, if ever, that cut-and-dry--it has many shades of grey, and it requires flexibility and creative thinking.Good luck!

Awnings offer shade and protection of windows and the frames .

For instance, let's say your brick is redish, cream siding, I would probably go with a really deep brick red stain, darker than the brick on the house. 

The rooms are also darker, with the lights and window views too bright.

Cap Rate is useless for those types of properties except as a maybe a curiosity or factoid; it is about as important as what shade of paint you used on the exterior.At 5-units and above, property value is based on income.  

The areas that do have meaningful inventories of homes at the 20k price point are going to fall into the worst areas in Akron.The graphic below shows what I mean.Areas shaded darker have higher concentrations of 20k properties. 

I agree with John; if you are out of state, it is recommended to stay out of RED areas or now, Trulia changed the map so it's the darkest blue shades. 

Up here, were our primary concern is winter, we will have higher reflectivity / lower solar gain on the north face and higher solar gain on the south and west (provided the windows are properly shaded from the mid-summer sun).  

I like the darker woods which forces you to black or stainless appliances. 

We eventually settled on a darker floor as we thought it looked more modern and we felt that it would balance with the white counters, and we plan to do a white backsplash eventually too.