Helps with your debt to income, better opportunities at cash flow, and typically requires less down to purchase.In regards to challenges, I usually build in an extra 10-15% to deal with things that I can't see behind the walls, including dry rot, electrical or plumbing issues, etc.

If you have no idea what is going on with this capital call, then the bias should be "no" until you understand what is going on and believe that is the best possible use of your hard earned cash. 

First, estimate what the renovation would cost, how long it would take, and how much extra you could potentially sell the property for once it’s fixed up.

If your average heating bill is $150, you may not collect enough in the winter months when the bill reaches $225 but you'll collect extra in the summer when it drops to $65.

Since the properties are in New York you have a few extra steps you need to do to keep all of your funds out of NYs hands at closing.Here's an interesting BP thread on the South Carolina property tax issue you mentioned. https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/725/topics/604427-south.... 

So, it's not like Scott had devised some extra default prone strategy to troll gullible fools, while making all his money teaching noobs to self-destruct.

I’ve had the most success with quality for lower cost by hiring guys who have full time jobs doing the same or similar for extra cash during the evenings, but then progress is slow.

No extra unit will ever berented in it.

I'd hate for a temporary dip in the quality of the tenant pool to be giving my landlord "spidey sense" false alarms on account of taking an extra month or two to fill a unit.

From what I can tell, the extra equity on the house could be utilized to provide better ROI.